Have any UK or EU sanctions targeted US individuals, companies, or industries recently (2023-2025)?
This fact-check may be outdated. Consider refreshing it to get the most current information.
Executive summary
Neither UK nor EU sanctions lists show routine targeting of U.S. persons as a policy aim in 2023–2025; reporting and expert trackers instead document extensive UK/EU actions against Russia, Belarus, Iran, Syria and others, and note increasing extraterritorial reach and enforcement friction with U.S. measures [1] [2] [3].
1. What the public records actually show: UK/EU sanctions focus on third countries, not U.S. targets
Official UK and EU sanction repositories and briefings demonstrate the authorities concentrating designations on individuals, entities and whole sectors tied to states such as Russia, Belarus, Iran and Syria; the UK Sanctions List and the EU’s restrictive measures pages list assets freezes, travel bans and prohibitions aimed at those actors rather than U.S. nationals as a category [4] [1] [5].
2. Occasional extraterritorial effects, not explicit targeting of U.S. actors
Analysts and law firms emphasise that modern UK/EU sanctions can have extraterritorial effects — for example by reaching non‑EU persons or third‑country subsidiaries when there is a sufficient nexus — but these are framed as jurisdictional breadth rather than deliberate targeting of U.S. individuals or companies [3] [6]. That means a U.S. company can be affected where transactions have an EU/UK nexus, even if the designation names a non‑U.S. target [6].
3. Coordination and alignment with U.S. measures create overlap, not one‑way sanctions on Americans
Recent packages on Russia and related export controls show active coordination between the U.S., UK and EU; commentators describe alignment on export controls and sectoral bans (notably IT, energy and services bans tied to Russia) that can restrict U.S. activity overseas when overlapping rules apply — again an effect of parallel policy, not explicit UK/EU sanctions naming U.S. persons as targets [7] [8] [9].
4. U.S. measures have expanded extraterritorial reach — Europe is responding, not reciprocating by naming Americans
U.S. authorities expanded extraterritorial authorities (for example Executive Orders and OFAC determinations) to press on circumvention and third‑party enablers; European and UK commentary shows they are wrestling with overlapping jurisdiction and enforcement, strengthening their own tools and guidance but continuing to direct designations at actors linked to hostile states rather than U.S. actors per se [2] [3] [10].
5. Enforcement, fines and legal friction are rising — sometimes affecting U.S. firms indirectly
Europe (the EU, UK, Switzerland and Norway) increased enforcement activity and fines in 2024–25, which has produced greater risk exposure for any multinational (including U.S. firms) operating across jurisdictions; the record shows fines and criminalisation efforts were significant in Europe in 2024 and continued into 2025 [11] [10]. That trend raises compliance costs for U.S. businesses but does not equate to UK/EU sanction listings that expressly target U.S. persons [11] [10].
6. Notable examples to watch (Russia energy, IT services) — where U.S. persons faced new restrictions under their own law, and EU/UK tightened rules in parallel
Two concrete cross‑cutting developments illustrate how U.S., UK and EU measures can bite on the same activity: (a) U.S. restrictions and determinations on petroleum services and property‑blocking in the Russian energy sector in early 2025, accompanied by UK coordination [12]; and (b) aligned prohibitions and export controls on IT services and software to Russia that took effect in 2024, with the EU removing some subsidiary‑exemptions so EU rules could be stricter in certain respects [8]. These actions affected U.S. companies through U.S. rules and through compliance tensions, not because EU/UK listed U.S. persons for sanction.
7. Limits of available reporting and where uncertainty remains
Available sources do not mention any systematic list entries on UK or EU sanctions that intentionally designate U.S. individuals or whole U.S. industries in 2023–2025. Sources do document high coordination and parallel escalation targeting third‑country actors, and increased extraterritorial enforcement risk for U.S. firms, but they do not assert UK/EU naming of U.S. persons as a pattern [4] [1] [8] [12]. If you seek whether any single U.S. citizen or firm was ever designated by the UK or EU in a narrow case in this window, current reporting in the provided sources does not list such a specific designation.
8. Practical takeaway: compliance risk, not political targeting
For U.S. firms the practical reality in 2023–2025 is elevated compliance risk from overlapping U.S., UK and EU rules, more aggressive enforcement in Europe, and sectoral measures (energy, IT, services) that can affect cross‑border business — even where sanctions lists do not explicitly name Americans [8] [11] [10]. Companies should prioritise jurisdictional mapping and coordinated licensing/denial procedures because the exposure arises from interaction of regimes, not from explicit UK/EU campaigns aimed at U.S. persons [6] [9].
Sources used: UK Government consolidated sanctions materials and updates [4] [5], legal and firm analyses of U.S./EU/UK coordination and measures [2] [3] [8], enforcement summaries [11] [10], and specific reporting on 2024–25 packages [12] [10].