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Why did Washington sanction a NATO ally?
Summary
A retrospective on the 14 December 2020 announcement that the United States had imposed sanctions on Turkey over its purchase of Russian S-400 missile defence systems.
What does it mean when a law aimed at adversaries is turned on a partner? On 14 December 2020, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that the United States had imposed sanctions on Turkey over its acquisition of the S-400 missile defence system from Russia.
The announcement was notable for its legal basis. The Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, known as CAATSA, was the instrument used. As reported at the time, it was the first occasion on which the act had been used to penalise a U.S. ally.
The law behind the move
CAATSA is a federal law that imposed sanctions on Iran, North Korea and Russia. It works by preventing U.S. companies from doing business with sanctioned entities. The Senate passed it on 27 July 2017 by 98 votes to 2, after the House approved it by 419 to 3. President Donald Trump signed it on 2 August 2017, though he believed the legislation was seriously flawed.
What the decision showed
The measure linked a Turkey–United States dispute to a law whose main targets were other states. Russia was one of the countries the act was written to penalise, and the sanctions on Turkey concerned a purchase of Russian-made equipment. The 14 December 2020 announcement showed that the act could reach beyond the adversaries named in it.
