The new regulations do not provide for the automatic approval of food and medicine sales. Each contract will still have to pass through a policy filter. However, the regulations shift the presumption in favor of approving such sales. At the same time, there will be no U.S. Government funding or financing in support of such sales authorized by the change. There are, of course, circumstances under which such commercial sales will not be permitted.
Sanctions are a legitimate tool of our foreign policy.
But the United States has always sought to limit their impact on innocent and vulnerable populations. For 2 years, the Administration has been working to ensure that sanctions are carefully targeted, advance foreign policy goals, and avoid as much as possible damage to other U.S. interests.