U.S. Approved Business With Blacklisted Nations

[cal04]

Source: NY Times

Despite sanctions and trade embargoes, over the past decade the United States government has granted special licenses allowing American companies to do billions of dollars in business with Iran and other countries blacklisted as state sponsors of terrorism, an examination by The New York Times has found.

At the behest of a host of companies — from Kraft Food and Pepsi to some of the nation’s largest banks — a little-known office of the Treasury Department has made nearly 10,000 exceptions to American sanctions rules, approving deals involving countries that have been cast into economic purgatory, beyond the reach of American business.

Most of the licenses were approved under a decade-old law exempting agricultural and medical humanitarian aid from sanctions. But the law, pushed by the farm lobby and other industry groups, was written so broadly that allowable humanitarian aid has included cigarettes, Wrigley gum, Louisiana hot sauce, weight-loss remedies, body-building supplements and sports rehabilitation equipment sold to the institute that trains Iran’s Olympic athletes.

Hundreds of other licenses were approved because they passed a litmus test: They were deemed to serve American foreign policy goals. And many clearly do, like deals to provide famine relief in North Korea or to improve Internet connections — and nurture democracy — in Iran. But the examination also found cases in which the foreign-policy benefits were considerably less clear.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/24/world/24sanctions.html?hp

[freshwest]

1. Money doesn't talk, it swears -- Bob Dylan

[molly77]

2. Perhaps the NY Times is going to have a go at publishing news.

[AlphaCentauri]

3. U.S. Approved Business With Blacklisted Nations

Source: NYT

Despite sanctions and trade embargoes, over the past decade the United States government has allowed American companies to do billions of dollars in business with Iran and other countries blacklisted as state sponsors of terrorism, an examination by The New York Times has found.

At the behest of a host of companies — from Kraft Food and Pepsi to some of the nation’s largest banks — a little-known office of the Treasury Department has granted nearly 10,000 licenses for deals involving countries that have been cast into economic purgatory, beyond the reach of American business.

Most of the licenses were approved under a decade-old law mandating that agricultural and medical humanitarian aid be exempted from sanctions. But the law, pushed by the farm lobby and other industry groups, was written so broadly that allowable humanitarian aid has included cigarettes, Wrigley’s gum, Louisiana hot sauce, weight-loss remedies, body-building supplements and sports rehabilitation equipment sold to the institute that trains Iran’s Olympic athletes.

Hundreds of other licenses were approved because they passed a litmus test: They were deemed to serve American foreign policy goals. And many clearly do, among them deals to provide famine relief in North Korea or to improve Internet connections — and nurture democracy — in Iran. But the examination also found cases in which the foreign-policy benefits were considerably less clear.



Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/24/world/24sanctions.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

[Heywood J]

4. The foreign policy benefits of Wrigleys are legendary!

How did I know the banks would be involved? If there's a way to make a profit in actions that would be criminal if someone else did it, they're there!

[Go2Peace]

5. So companies can sell products to supporters of terrorism but if peace groups

try to help make peaceful dialog they go to jail.

Incredible.

[Arctic Dave]

6. You are only a terrorist if you are poor.

If you got money though, we're all good.

[JDPriestly]

7. So the sanctions and embargoes are just a charade, just a farce?

Why does our government do this sort of stupid thing?

[Vegetarianist]

8. "Indeed, the exceptions represent only a small...

counterweight to the overall force of America’s trade sanctions, which are among the toughest in the world."
Page 3 was interesting too. It seems Sen. Inouye supported a specific loophole due to a political contribution from a person involved.

[panzerfaust]

9. Not if you are not an American company

If you are not an American company, and your nation trades with The Terrorists, then your nation will be retaliated against by the USofA.