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President Trump Signs Order Lifting Sanctions on Syria

Washington, D.C. (July 15, 2025) - On June 30, 2025, President Trump issued Executive Order 14312 (Order). The Order bolsters recent U.S. efforts to reset the United States’s relationship dynamic regarding Syria, relying on perceived positive steps from Syria’s new leadership. These changes may offer new business opportunities in that country.

The Order revokes past executive orders that prohibited transactions with Syrian persons and entities, such as:

  • Executive Order 13338 of May 11, 2004 (Blocking Property of Certain Persons and Prohibiting the Export of Certain Goods to Syria)
     
  • Executive Order 13399 of April 25, 2006 (Blocking Property of Additional Persons in Connection With the National Emergency With Respect to Syria)
     
  • Executive Order 13460 of February 13, 2008 (Blocking Property of Additional Persons in Connection With the National Emergency With Respect to Syria)
     
  • Executive Order 13572 of April 29, 2011 (Blocking Property of Certain Persons with Respect to Human Rights Abuses in Syria)
     
  • Executive Order 13573 of May 18, 2011 (Blocking Property of Senior Officials of the Government of Syria)
     
  • Executive Order 13582 of August 17, 2011 (Blocking Property of the Government of Syria and Prohibiting Certain Transactions with Respect to Syria).

The Order also reinvigorates U.S. efforts to hold Syria’s former leader, Bashar al-Assad, and his affiliates accountable for crimes committed during their rule, by modifying previous Syria-related Executive Orders to account for the change in leadership. Further the Order empowers the Secretary of State to sanction persons and entities deemed harmful to a Syria that is “stable, unified, and at peace with itself and its neighbors.”

In addition, the Order instructs Executive Branch staff to review and coordinate efforts to rescind sanctions that require congressional intervention such as the Caesar Act and the Syria Accountability Act. These efforts would require Congress to repeal those two acts.

Most significantly, the Order instructs the Secretary of State and the Attorney General to review the designation of Syria’s new leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, and his organization, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, in the Specially Designated Global Terrorist list. On July 7, 2025, the U.S. State Department announced that effective July 8, 2025,  Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham’s designation as a Foreign Terrorist Organization is revoked.

Key Takeaway

The U.S. government continues to pursue policies consistent with President Trump’s May 13, 2025, announcement that Syria-related sanctions will be terminated. Though the relevant executive decisions are contingent on issues such as governance, political reform, and stability, developments regarding Syria remain fast-paced and offer opportunities for investors and stakeholders.

Lewis Brisbois’s attorneys are actively engaged in the wide range of legal issues in this area and are advising clients on managing legal and business risk as events continue to develop at an accelerated pace. For more information, contact the author or editors of this alert. Visit our Ukraine Conflict, International Trade, Export, Import and Investment Controls & National Security Practice page for additional alerts in this area.

Author:

Mamoun Mahayni, Associate

Editors:

Andrew Pidgirsky, Partner and Chair of Ukraine Conflict, International Trade, Import, Export and Investment Controls & National Security Practice

Jane C. Luxton, Co-Managing Partner - Washington, D.C.

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