Foreign policy & defense
sanctions
Economic penalties imposed on countries, entities, or individuals: asset freezes, trade bans, and financial restrictions, mostly administered by Treasury.
In full
The Office of Foreign Assets Control maintains lists of blocked persons and administers programs authorized by statute or by executive order under emergency powers. Secondary sanctions reach foreign firms that deal with sanctioned parties, which extends U.S. reach through the dollar's role in global finance. Sanctions can be imposed quickly and are politically difficult to lift.
Where to go next
Keep going
Browse every term in the glossary, or see the vocabulary in motion in the How government works walkthroughs.
A plain-language explanation for civic education, not legal advice. When in doubt, the official source named above controls.