From: Biniam Tekle (biniamt@dehai.org)
Date: Wed Jul 29 2009 - 20:37:47 EDT
http://www.exportlawblog.com/archives/537
If Sanctions Fell on Eritrea, Would Anyone Feel Them?
Posted by Clif Burns at 7:08 pm on July 29, 2009
Category: Eritrea Sanctions
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In testimony before the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Susan Rice, the
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, rattled the sanctions saber against
Eritrea, saying that the Eritrean government had only a “short window of
time” to improve its relationship with the United States or be subject to
sanctions. Rice did not specify what sanctions she had in mind.
The U.S. has accused Eritrea for quite some time of supporting Al-Qaeda
linked groups in neighboring Somalia. Based on these allegations, the U.S.
imposed an arms embargo in October 2008. That embargo was largely symbolic
because in the prior year no military sales had been made from the United
States to Eritrea.
If the United States unilaterally attempts to impose restrictions on imports
and exports to Eritrea, these restrictions are likely to be just as symbolic
as the arms embargo. In 2008, U.S. exports to Eritrea totaled just under $15
million, which is about 3% of Eritrea’s annual estimated imports of
approximately $500 million. U.S. imports from Eritrea are even less
significant, coming in at a whopping $129,000 in 2008. And whether or not
the U.S. could enlist the U.N. or other countries in imposing new sanctions
remains to be seen.
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