Providing for the Revocation of Syria Sanctions

The order terminates the national emergency first declared in 2004 under Executive Order 13338 and revokes five additional Syria sanctions executive orders (EOs 13399, 13460, 13572, 13573, and 13582) effective July 1, 2025, lifting the broad U.S. economic restrictions tied to the Assad regime. It also waives specific sanctions required under the Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act for Syria's prior chemical weapons use (effective 20 days after the required congressional transmission) and waives selected Syria Accountability Act export restrictions. For the Caesar Act, it directs the Secretary of State to examine whether the statutory suspension criteria are met and, if so, to suspend those sanctions after briefing Congress within 30 days.

In parallel, the order expands the remaining national emergency under Executive Order 13894 to pursue accountability for Assad-era atrocities, updating the asset-blocking criteria to reach war criminals, captagon traffickers, those responsible for the disappearance of U.S. nationals in Syria, and obstructors of Syria's political transition. It also directs the Secretary of State to review the terrorism designations of Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham and its leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, and to review Syria's State Sponsor of Terrorism status under existing law.

U.S. businesses and financial institutions previously barred from transacting with Syria, Syrian individuals and entities formerly subject to blocked-property designations, former Assad-regime officials and associates targeted under the expanded EO 13894 framework, and Syria's new government, which stands to benefit from sanctions relief.

Lifting the broad sanctions regime opens Syria to U.S. trade, investment, and financial flows for the first time in over two decades, with potential impact on reconstruction, energy, and banking sectors. The terrorism designation reviews could shape whether American entities may legally engage with Syria's current governing authority.

The revocation of the six EOs and the national emergency termination are self-executing on July 1, 2025, without further agency action. Statutory sanctions under the Caesar Act, CBW Act, and Syria Accountability Act operate on separate timelines: the CBW Act waiver takes effect 20 days after congressional transmission; the Caesar Act suspension requires the Secretary of State to first find the statutory criteria met, then brief Congress within 30 days. The expanded EO 13894 framework preserves Treasury's ability to block assets of designated individuals, giving the order enforcement teeth against Assad-era bad actors even as the broader sanctions lift. Terrorism designation reviews (HTS, al-Sharaa, State Sponsor status) are directed but have no fixed deadlines, and any changes would carry separate legal consequences.