By Mengqi Sun 

The Biden administration is expected to review existing economic sanctions for possible relief to help with the global response in combating the coronavirus pandemic.

The secretaries of the State, Treasury and Commerce departments, in consultation with the Health and Human Services secretary and U.S. Agency for International Development administrator, will review existing U.S. and multilateral sanctions to evaluate whether they are hindering responses to the pandemic, according to a provision in a national security directive issued by President Biden on Thursday.

The secretaries then will make recommendations to the president, through the national security adviser and Covid-19 response coordinator, for any changes in approach, according to the directive, which focuses on U.S. leadership in the global response to the pandemic.

Mr. Biden has nominated former Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen to lead the Treasury. He nominated Antony Blinken, a former deputy secretary of state, to lead the State Department. Former Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo has been nominated for the Commerce secretary post. The appointments await confirmation by the Senate.

The directive comes after an effort last year by the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control to clarify humanitarian assistance exceptions to U.S. sanctions during the coronavirus crisis.

OFAC in April published a fact sheet that highlighted exemptions and authorizations for humanitarian assistance and trade under various OFAC programs to help countries combat Covid-19, including those related to Iran, Venezuela, North Korea, Syria and Cuba.

The new review hopefully can yield even clearer direction on licensing and guidance to help facilitate medical deliveries to jurisdictions that are under sanctions, according to Adam M. Smith, a partner at law firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP.

Write to Mengqi Sun at mengqi.sun@wsj.com

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 22, 2021 17:50 ET (22:50 GMT)

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