Thank you to Berliner, Corcoran & Rowe LLP for their help with these pages.
Sanctions are imposed in the US by the legislative and the executive branch of government. The legislative branch, the US Congress, issues statutes in order to create sanctions regimes. The International Emergency Economic Powers Act permits the President (the executive branch) to declare a “national emergency” to deal with unusual and extraordinary threats, pursuant to which the President issues sanctions via executive orders.
See the Introduction to OFAC for an overview of US sanctions, lists, and licences.
