US sanctions due to
BRICS ties ‘more
profound’ risk than tariffs,
says expert
Harald Sippel says sanctions carry a broader set of implications which extend to legal, reputational, and operational risks.
Harald Sippel, a senior foreign adviser with Aqran Vijandran – a law firm specialising in commercial and corporate law – said while tariffs primarily impact economic transactions, sanctions carry a broader set of implications including legal, reputational, and operational risks.
The US has already shown that employing sanctions is the cornerstone of its foreign policy, he said.
Sippel said Washington uses sanctions to address perceived threats to its national interests, as well as to influence the behaviour of other nations.
“Yet, this threat has so far been completely underestimated by Malaysian politics and businesses alike,” he wrote in the latest edition of CME Monthly Espresso, a newsletter produced by think tank Center for Market Education.
Sippel, who regularly advises companies on matters related to sanctions, said that US sanctions are often implemented through executive orders, and when it comes to BRICS, two executive orders stand out, namely Executive Order 14024 and Executive Order 14105.
He said that Executive Order 14024 authorises sanctions against individuals and entities engaged in activities detrimental to US foreign policy, such as undermining democratic institutions and cyber attacks.
This order has been a key instrument for sanctioning entities linked to Russia’s geopolitical actions, he added.
Executive Order 14105, on the other hand, broadens the scope of sanctions related to the technology sector, focusing on entities that facilitate artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, he said.
This order highlights Washington’s growing concern over AI’s dual-use potential, particularly in countries like China, he said.
Sippel said Malaysia’s enhanced ties with BRICS members, particularly China and Russia, might inadvertently draw scrutiny under these frameworks.
“While Malaysian businesses would hardly defy US sanctions intentionally, their increased economic engagement with BRICS nations would likely be perceived as contravening US policies,” he said.
Sippel, a CME advisory board member, added that the threat “is not purely of theoretical nature”.
He said the US targeted nearly 400 entities and individuals for enabling Russia’s war in the Ukraine in November 2024, including six Malaysian companies.
Earlier this month, investment, trade and industry minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz said Putrajaya would monitor the development of the threat by US president-elect Donald Trump to impose tariffs on BRICS countries. Malaysia was recognised as a BRICS partner in October.
Trump had threatened to impose 100% tariffs on BRICS nations if they created a rival currency to the US dollar.
The FOOL Trade Minister....Go SELL MORE PALM OIL to YOUR PALESTINE AND HAMAS LOVER NATION....ANOTHE USELESS SCUMBAG.....MONITOR YOUR KEPALA OTAK RACIST FACIST BANGSAT NEGARA....FOR SUPPORTING HAMAS....ITS OVER FOR MALAYSIA MAD IDIOT ANWAR AND YOUR TALIBAN EDUCATION MINISTER GOVERNMENT....
ReplyDeleteAs I have told everyone I know who may have an ear of the PH government..
ReplyDeletepursuing opportunities for cooperation and trading ties with BRICs countries is no problem...allowing companies the opening to trade in other currencies also no problem....
. but active anti-American measures , active US sanctions busting and active Dedollarisation by Government direction will be self-destructive to the Malaysian economy.
Like them or loath them, the Wankees remain a major and vital trading partner for Malaysia, and there is no China growth opportunity available to replace the Wankee trade.
In real life, there are plenty of situations where you have no choice but to smile and be civil with people you may not particularly like... wakakaka..and that's how it is with the Wankees.
"there is no China growth opportunity available to replace the Wankee trade"
Delete望井观天！ No surprises from a past shelf life know-nothing.
Every administration worth their economic developments r looking towards China for future growths. & yet yr inconsequential fart of know-nothing.
In real life, there are plenty of situations where you have choices to be civilized & yet be hostile to people you may not particularly like...
Everyone has a redline that absolutely no one could temper.
But those kowtowing myrmidons r very different. No redlines for them, even in selling their mother/daughter to the enemy!