House lawmakers on Tuesday voted overwhelmingly in favor of new sanctions designed to curtail China’s support for North Korea.
Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., wrote the legislation to impose sanctions on “virtually anyone that facilitates trade and investment with North Korea.” Chinese companies represent the chief target of those measures, as China stands as the leading patron of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un’s regime.
The legislation also builds upon U.S. efforts to stiffen economic sanctions at the United Nations Security Council, in the face of Russian and Chinese recalcitrance. The bill — the Otto Warmbier North Korea Nuclear Sanctions Act — is named for the American college student who was arrested while traveling in North Korea and died shortly after being returned to the U.S. in a coma.
The bill passed in a 415-2 vote.
“While many of us would welcome Chinese efforts to get tough on Pyongyang, such efforts sadly have not been forthcoming,” Barr said at a recent Financial Services Committee hearing. “It is time to say, ‘Enough is enough.'”
The sanctions are designed to impede North Korean imports and exports, including its oil and textiles. President Trump’s team and western allies sought to impose a strict oil embargo through the U.N. Security Council, but had to settle for a more modest sanctions package due to the threat of a veto from China or Russia.
“In short, foreign financial institutions that deal with anyone involved in these areas will face a clear choice: They can either do business that will ultimately benefit North Korea or they can do business with the United States,” Barr said during the hearing. “They cannot do both. The goal is to incentivize foreign banks to sever ties to anyone involved in the North’s economic activity and ultimately cut off Pyongyang’s access to the resource it needs in pursuit of its nuclear ambitions.”
In that respect, the bill is a step toward the broad targeting of China that some lawmakers believe will be necessary to force a change in North Korea’s behavior.
Barr included a provision in the bill designed to coerce China and other countries into implementing sanctions. The bill would require the U.S. government to block countries “that knowingly fail to crack down on North Korean actors” from receiving assistance from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
The legislation received significant bipartisan support during the process. Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., expressed hope that the bill would threaten Kim Jong Un’s “hold on power.” Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., also endorsed the proposal.
“We have to do everything in our power to stop [North Korea],” she said. “This includes tough new sanctions as well as secondary financial sanctions to cripple their finances — and that’s precisely what this bill would do.”
Barr stressed that the legislation gives Trump the ability to waive the sanctions if necessary, but that the waiver authority is conditioned on North Korean actions. “As tough as these sanctions are, there is an off ramp for North Korea, but it is up to the Kim regime to take it,” he said.
