U.S. Sanctions and Export Controls Certificate Course

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The United States is the world’s largest economy and operates under a constitutional federal system that shapes its approach to trade, national security, and international economic policy. It has a market-oriented mixed economy in which private enterprise drives most activity while the federal government plays a central regulatory and strategic role, and the U.S. dollar serves as the world’s primary reserve currency. 

The U.S. export control system regulates the export, re-export, and transfer of goods, software, technology, and services for national security and foreign policy reasons, primarily through the Department of Commerce’s Export Administration Regulations for dual-use and commercial items and the Department of State’s International Traffic in Arms Regulations for defense articles and services. 

In parallel, U.S. sanctions—administered mainly by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control under statutes such as the International Emergency Economic Powers Act—restrict transactions with designated countries, entities, sectors, and individuals, including through asset blocking and financial prohibitions. Together, export controls and sanctions form a core component of U.S. economic statecraft, grounded in statute and executive authority, enforced through civil and criminal penalties, and increasingly used to address geopolitical competition, proliferation risks, and other national security concerns.