Countermeasures Of The EU Against The Secondary Sanctions Of The US

Secondary sanctions not only aim at the economies of the target states but also impose certain restrictions and requirements on the economic activities of third states.The US implementes secondary sanctions most frequently,which has become an important way to promote foreign policy and maintain national security.The US has a long history of using secondary sanctions,has formed a relatively mature sanction system.In terms of legislation,its law of secondary sanctions consists of the general legislation of congress,special sanctions act,administrative regulations,presidential orders and so on,which constitute a complex system.In terms of practice,the treasury department,the department of commerce and other departments work together to impose sanctions on individuals and enterprises in many third countries by virtue of their developed financial system,so as to achieve the purpose of secondary sanctions.Up to now,the US has initiated secondary sanctions against many countries,which have caused serious harm to the economies of target states and third states,broken the international economic order,and caused strong resistance from the international community.The EU and the US had a long confrontation on the issue of secondary sanctions,which accumulated a wealth of countermeasures experience.The EU’s attitude towards the US secondary sanctions can be divided into four stages.First,in the early 1980 s,the contradiction between the EC and the US on the issue of secondary sanctions finally broke out.In the case of Siberian natural gas pipeline,the EC member countries strongly opposed the decision of the US on the secondary sanctions,and finally forced the US to stop the implementation of the secondary sanctions after six months.Then,in 1996,the US imposed secondary sanctions against Cuba,Iran and Libya.In response to its sanctions,the EU promulgated its blocking statutes with reporting provisions,blocking provisions,non-enforcement provisions and recovery provisions,laid the foundation of the countermeasures system,and supplemented by political negotiations,the WTO dispute settlement mechanism,the United Nations general assembly resolutions,to conduct a comprehensive counter.Later,with the change of the situation of the Iranian nuclear issue,the EU’s attitude towards the us secondary sanctions also fluctuated.From 2010 to 2015,the EU no longer took a tough attitude towards the US secondary sanctions,but began to condone and even support its sanctions.In 2018,after the US announced the withdrawal from JCPOA and the resumption of sanctions against Iran,the EU also resumed its countermeasures and launched a new round of fighting.The secondary sanctions initiated by the US against Iran,North Korea,Russia and other countries have had a serious impact on Chinese economy,and Chinese individuals and enterprises have taken a huge risk of sanctions when engaging in international economic activities.However,China still lacks effective countermeasures,and the construction of countermeasures system is still blank,which cannot provide effective protection for China’s national interests.Since the EU has successfully prevented the US from launching secondary sanctions against the Soviet Union,Iran and Libya,China should learn from the experience and lessons of the eu in the process of constructing the countermeasures system,and build a feasible countermeasures system based on China’s specific national conditions.On the one hand,from a long-term point of view,in order to build a perfect countermeasures system,we should consider a number of aspects.The content of Chiese blocking statutes should be carefully considered,the core extraterritorial jurisdiction problem should be resolved through dollarization,and the role of political negotiation,WTO dispute settlement mechanism and the United Nations general assembly should be effectively brought into play,and the experience and lessons from practice should be absorbed to form a comprehensive countermeasures system.On the other hand,in the face of the immediate need for countermeasures,there is a urgent need for a quick response,using the existing legal system to provide comprehensive and deep guidance and support to our individuals and businesses in their fight against United States secondary sanctions.