The laws in question may mandate particular actions or may serve as the basis for mandatory or discretionary actions by the Executive Branch, according to the ITC report. The agency identified a total of 142 statutory provisions pertaining to unilateral economic sanctions under these laws, the largest percentage of which concern terrorism (20 percent).

The ITC, an independent, nonpartisan, factfinding federal agency, prepared the report at the request of the U.S. House of Representatives' Committee on Ways and Means. The report provides legislators with a compilation of current unilateral economic sanctions, defined by the Committee as meaning "any unilateral restriction or condition on economic activity with respect to a foreign country or foreign entity that is imposed by the United States for reasons of foreign policy or national security." The report is expected to be useful to legislators as they consider sanction-related legislation.

As requested, the ITC's report includes a description of U.S. unilateral economic sanctions currently in effect; a review of recent literature on the economic effects of national level economic sanctions; a survey of affected U.S. industries concerning the costs and effects of U.S. unilateral economic sanctions on such industries and their markets; and a proposed methodology to analyze in future studies the short- and long-term costs of U.S. unilateral sanctions and their impact on the U.S. economy. As directed by the Committee, the report excludes certain trade measures, including multilateral sanctions, measures imposed to remedy unfair trade practices, and actions taken pursuant to the extension by the United States of most-favored-nation trading status. Following are highlights of the report:

• As requested by the Committee, in addition to federal sanction-related laws, the ITC identified 27 state, county, and city laws imposing unilateral economic sanctions, as well as 14 additional proposed state and local measures, concerning human rights practices in Burma, Cuba, Nigeria, and Tibet, and the possession by international financial institutions of funds belonging to Holocaust victims and their heirs.

• The ITC contacted 492 U.S. firms and professional or trade associations in a non-scientific telephone survey to obtain their views and information on U.S. unilateral economic sanctions. Survey respondents stated that it was difficult for them to quantify economic effects of sanctions such as the business losses experienced, compared to the returns expected if sanctions had not been in place; the effects of delayed entrance into a foreign market because of sanctions; and the business losses incurred because sanctions may cause U.S. firms to be perceived as unreliable suppliers due to the threat of future U.S. unilateral economic sanctions. Many respondents stated that identification of, and compliance with, the large number of U.S. unilateral economic sanctions is difficult and expensive.

• As requested, the ITC reviewed recent literature on the economic effects of national-level economic sanctions. These studies take a variety of methodological approaches, with most examining foregone annual export sales to target countries due to all U.S. sanctions, including multilateral sanctions. Estimates in this literature of foregone annual export sales range from $5 to $20 billion.

• Based on its survey of the recent literature, the ITC's likely approach in evaluating the economic impact of U.S. unilateral sanctions on an ongoing basis in future reports would be to jointly employ a variety of economic methodologies to capture the effects of economic sanctions. The exact combination would depend on the specific request as well as the length of time available for analysis. In addition to economic methodologies, the ITC would seek industry and interested party views through hearings, questionnaires, and other survey forms.

The foregoing is from the ITC's report Overview and Analysis of Current U.S. Unilateral Economic Sanctions (Inv. No. 332-391, USITC Publication 3124, July 1998). The report will be posted on the ITC's Internet server at www.usitc.gov. A printed copy may be requested by calling 202-205-1809 or by writing the Office of the Secretary, U.S. International Trade Commission, 500 E Street SW, Washington, DC 20436. Requests may be faxed to 202-205-2104.