U.S. Exempts China and Singapore from Iran Oil Import Sanctions

June 29, 2012

On, June 28, 2012, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made a last-minute announcement that China and Singapore will be exempted, for a period of 180 days, from U.S. sanctions that may be imposed on countries that buy crude oil from Iran. China and Singapore join a list of twenty countries that are exempt from the sanctions as a result of significant reductions to the amount of crude oil they purchase from Iran.  Earlier in June, Secretary Clinton announced that India, Malaysia, South Korea, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Turkey and Taiwan would be exempted, for a renewable period of 180 days, from the same sanctions under Section 1245 of the National Defense Authorization Act for 2012 (NDAA). Under the NDAA, countries failing to significantly reduce the amount of oil they import from Iran by June 28, 2012, face potential U.S. sanctions. Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, and the United Kingdom, all received temporary exemptions from the sanctions in March.

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