After a three month wait, the US Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) has finally caught up with the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in relaxing restrictions...more
Key Takeaways: The Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) has issued a final rule significantly relaxing export controls on Syria under the Export Administration Regulations (“EAR”), in line with Executive Order 14312, which...more
On September 2, 2025, the US Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) issued its widely anticipated Final Rule “Relaxing Export Controls for Syria” (the “BIS Rule”) that substantially eases export...more
On August 28, 2025, the U.S. Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) published a rule relaxing certain restrictions on Syria under the Export Administration Regulations (EAR). But unlike the much broader...more
On August 28, 2025, the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) issued a final rule relaxing export controls on Syria in response to the June 30, 2025 Executive Order (EO) 14312 “Providing for the...more
Each quarter, I send my clients a trade compliance update, highlighting important developments over the last few months and summarizing key points for important sanctions programs. In addition to a variety of ad hoc...more
On June 30, 2025, the President signed an Executive Order (EO) lifting sanctions on Syria and directing the U.S. Department of State (DOS) and the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) to relax or suspend other programs (e.g.,...more
The United States had imposed layers of sanctions on Syria since deeming it a State Sponsor of Terrorism in 1979. The U.S. Treasury imposed most sanctions during the Iraq War and the Syrian Civil War. In December 2024, Hay’at...more
Key Takeaways: - Executive Order 14312 revokes the six executive orders that formed the foundation of the Syrian Sanctions Program, terminates the national emergency underlying those executive orders and waives and relaxes...more
Building on prior relief of sanctions and other restrictive trade measures earlier this year (as described in K2 Integrity alerts dated 15 May and 09 June 2025), on 30 June 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump issued a new...more
President Donald Trump issued an Executive Order (the EO) on June 30, 2025, terminating the U.S. government's Syria sanctions program and directing other actions that, if finalized, will revoke the vast majority of U.S. trade...more
President Trump continued his flurry of sanctions actions with the recent revocation of the Syrian sanctions program. On June 30, 2025, President Donald Trump issued Executive Order (“EO”) 14312 “Providing for the Revocation...more
Pursuant to a sweeping new executive order (EO) issued on June 30, 2025, the Trump administration has lifted virtually all U.S. sanctions targeting Syria, shuttered the Syria sanctions program administered by the Office of...more
On June 30, 2025, the White House issued Executive Order 14312, Providing for the Revocation of Syria Sanctions (the Syria EO), terminating U.S. comprehensive sanctions on Syria effective July 1, 2025. ...more
After the fall of the former regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria, the Presidential Administration has taken steps to formally dismantle the U.S.’s two-decade-long comprehensive trade restrictions on Syria. These steps began...more
On June 30, 2025, President Trump issued an executive order (EO) that, effective July 1, revokes the U.S. sanctions program on Syria, and calls for the removal of the Syrian Sanctions Regulations from the Code of Federal...more
On June 30, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) implemented the President’s Executive Order “Providing for the Revocation of Syria Sanctions,” (Syria EO) which removes U.S. sanctions on...more
On 23 June 2025, the EU Council approved a new set of conclusions on Syria, confirming the EU's support for the country's peaceful transition and its engagement with the transitional government to facilitate Syria's economic...more
On May 23, 2025, General License 25 (“GL 25” or the “General License”) was issued by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”), suspending a wide array of sanctions against Syria....more
On May 23, 2025, 10 days after President Trump announced his directive to lift U.S. sanctions on Syria during his visit to Saudia Arabia last month, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control...more
General License (GL) 25 authorizes transactions previously prohibited by various regulations. Specifically, Section (a) broadly authorizes activities previously prohibited under the Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC)’s...more
On May 23, 2025, the Trump administration issued a general license (GL) significantly relaxing the patchwork of restrictions on Syria, long a jurisdiction subject to comprehensive sanctions. This regulatory action followed a...more
Following an announcement by President Donald Trump on May 13, 2025, that he would order the cessation of US sanctions against Syria, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued General...more
On May 23, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued Syria General License (GL) 25, “Authorizing Transactions Prohibited by the Syrian Sanctions Regulations or Involving Certain...more
On May 23, 2025, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) issued General License No. 25 (“GL 25”) authorizing certain transactions involving Syria and a specified list of blocked...more