Administration of Proliferation Sanctions and Amendment of Executive Order 12851

This executive order delegates presidential authorities under the Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act to the Secretary of the Treasury, imposing sanctions on countries determined to have used chemical or biological weapons. It requires Treasury to oppose international financial institution loans and prohibit U.S. bank loans to sanctioned governments, with exceptions for food and agricultural purchases. The order also amends Executive Order 12851 to formally delegate these authorities from the President to the Treasury Secretary.

Federal Register Open PDF 84 FR 38113

Impact dates

Date TBD
Treasury may promulgate rules and regulations to implement order

Key directives

Secretary of Treasury shall oppose international financial institution loans to sanctioned countries (Sec. 1(a)(i))
Secretary of Treasury shall prohibit U.S. bank loans/credit to sanctioned governments, except for food/agricultural purchases (Sec. 1(a)(ii))
Prohibit transactions evading or avoiding loan prohibitions (Sec. 2)
Amend EO 12851 to delegate authorities to Treasury Secretary (Sec. 3)
Treasury authorized to promulgate rules and regulations (Sec. 5)

Who is ordered

Timeline

Immediate

Delegation of sanctions authorities to Treasury Secretary takes effect
Prohibitions on transactions evading sanctions apply

Near term (90d)

Treasury may promulgate implementing rules and regulations

Long term

Ongoing sanctions administration against CBW violators
Potential expansion of sanctions designations by State Department determinations

Risks & tensions

No explicit deadline for regulatory implementation creates uncertainty
Food/agricultural exception may create enforcement complexity
Delegation to Treasury reduces presidential visibility over sanctions decisions
Potential tension between sanctions goals and humanitarian food access
Vague 'when necessary' qualifier in Sec. 1 may limit automatic application