US Imposes Economic Sanctions Against Myanmar Over Protester Killings

US Imposes Economic Sanctions Against Myanmar Over Protester Killings.

US Trade Representative Katherine Tai has announced that the US is suspending its trade agreement with Myanmar following the violence that has broken out between military officials and the country’s civilians in recent weeks that resulted in the deaths of over 100 people.

Tai said in a Monday, March 29, statement that the suspension will remain in effect until “the return of a democratically elected government.”

Though the decision does not stop trade between the US and Myanmar, it does impose economic sanctions against the country, which serves as the 84th largest trading partner to the US for items like vehicles and machines.

Tai said in her statement the US supports Myanmar civilians trying to revive the democratic process in their country and severely condemned the military forces taking action against those efforts.

Do sanctions work?

Both critics and proponents of a tougher approach agree that up until now the sanctions – which solely targeted Myanmar’s military top brass – have been fairly weak.

“The Myanmar military are not going to fall down on the floor, cry and say ‘oh my god, I’ve lost my visa to the US, my life is over.’ They’ll probably laugh,” said Kishore Mahbubani, a former Singapore diplomat and a Distinguished Fellow at the Asia Research Institute at the National University of Singapore.

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