3 days ago
Why is the US discreetly easing pressure on Myanmar's junta?
The US Treasury said in a brief statement on July 24 that several individuals and companies allied to the ruling military junta in Myanmar had been removed from the US sanctions list imposed since the 2021 coup.
Specifically, sanctions were lifted against three companies and four individuals. Among them were KT Services and Logistics and its chief executive, Jonathan Myo Kyaw Thaung, whose affiliated companies have long been under scrutiny for having close links to the junta.
Also removed from the US sanctions list were Myanmar Chemical and Machinery Company and Suntac Technologies – companies that manufacture weapons – and their owners. A third Myanmar national, Tin Latt Min, whom the US had described as the owner of 'various companies closely linked to the regime', was also taken off the sanctions list.
'Shocking' to ease sanctions
"It's a shame," says Anna Roberts, executive director of the NGO Burma Campaign UK, which has been compiling a blacklist of companies accused of collaborating with the Tatmadaw – the armed forces of Myanmar – since 2018.
"Sanctions should be strengthened against the junta and its supporters as long as it continues to commit atrocities against the population,' Roberts says. 'It's even more shocking that sanctions would be lifted on companies that facilitate the supply of weapons to the military."
The military junta led by General Min Aung Hlaing seized power in Myanmar in February 2021, overthrowing the elected government of Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi.
Since the coup, the country has been embroiled in a civil war between the military and a pro-democracy movement made up of several ethnic minority groups. As fighting rages in several parts of the country, NGOs regularly report human rights violations.
In its latest report on Myanmar, Amnesty International notes that the internal armed conflict has escalated. 'The frequency of military air strikes increased, as did military attacks on schools, hospitals and civilian infrastructure,' the NGO notes, adding that the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has applied for an arrest warrant against Min Aung Hlaing for the deportation and persecution of the minority Rohingya population.
'The action suggests a major shift is underway in US policy, which had centred on punitive action against Myanmar's military regime,' says John Sifton, Asia advocacy director at Human Rights Watch.
'The decision will cause deep concern among victims of the Myanmar military and everyone who has been fighting and advocating for a return to democratic rule in Myanmar,' he adds.
Exchange of letters
Since the shift on sanctions was announced, speculation has been rife as to what motivated the US decision. For some analysts, the answer is mainly economic, but it may also just have been a question of playing to the ego of US President Donald Trump.
In early July, Trump sent a letter to Min Aung Hlaing notifying him that as part of his new trade policy, a 40 percent tariff on Myanmar's exports to the US would take effect on August 1.
The junta leader responded in a letter on July 11 that included a proposal to negotiate a trade deal with the US and added a flattering appraisal of Trump. As Myanmar state media said at the time, "The senior general (Min Aung Hlaing) acknowledged the president's strong leadership in guiding his country towards national prosperity with the spirit of a true patriot."
But despite the junta leader's words of praise, this exchange of letters is probably not the dawn a new relationship, Roberts says. "This letter from Donald Trump is just a copy/paste – like the ones he sends to other countries. There is no evidence of a desire to build closer ties with the junta," she says.
"But for the junta, this would have raised hopes of normalising relations with the United States."
The allure of rare earths
Myanmar is a leading source of rare earth minerals, a major focus for the Trump administration in its strategic competition with China, responsible for 90 percent of global rare earth processing capacity.
The metals are used in a wide variety of everyday and high-tech products, from electric car batteries to guided missiles.
Since 2021, Myanmar has doubled its exports of rare earths to neighbouring China, according to a 2024 study by Global Witness, an NGO specialising in combating the plunder of natural resources in developing countries. The mines extracting rare earths are located in Kachin State, on the China-Myanmar border, where they have proliferated, increasing to more than 300 last year from 180 in 2021.
Did the US lift sanctions as part of a strategy to gain access to these minerals? "If so, it seems highly risky,' says Roberts. 'Firstly, because China has always been the junta's biggest supporter and wields considerable influence in Myanmar.'
'And even if the United States manages to take control of these mines, there is a strong possibility that it will not be able to do much with them,' she adds. 'The logistical challenge would be immense. Some mines are located in areas currently under the control of the Kachin Independence Army, one of the ethnic groups fighting against the junta.'
It is unlikely that US companies would jeopardise their reputations or 'risk exposing themselves to legal action by participating in such a project in a war zone', she adds.
Denying that the US had an agenda in lifting the sanctions, US deputy secretary of the Treasury Michael Faulkender said in a statement: 'Anyone suggesting these sanctions were lifted for an ulterior motive is uninformed and peddling a conspiracy theory driven by hatred for President Trump,' adding that individuals 'are regularly added and removed' from the list of those sanctioned 'in the ordinary course of business'.
A junta in search of legitimacy
In any case, "the message sent by Donald Trump is catastrophic,' Roberts says. 'His policies have already been terrible for the Burmese people, principally because of the USAID budget cuts' which have deprived many people of vital aid. 'He is playing into the hands of the junta at a time when it has embarked on a major quest for legitimacy and international recognition.'
The military junta on July 31 announced the lifting of the state of emergency, which had been in place since the coup. Their stated objective is to hold general elections in December 2025 or January 2026. The military hopes to consolidate its power and give itself an appearance of legitimacy, even though large parts of the country are still controlled by the pro-democracy movement. For their part, opposition groups have already announced their intention to boycott the elections.
'The military had done the same thing during a previous coup in 2010. They organised elections and released prisoners to try to give the appearance of stability. That was enough to ease the pressure from the international community,' says Roberts. 'We must learn from the past and not fall into the same trap again. Now is not the time to scale back international action. This means maintaining – or even tightening – sanctions."
