Sanctions are legal restrictions that stop people and companies from dealing with a named target: a government, a company, a ship, an individual. Four systems matter most for anyone doing business across borders. The United States runs the most powerful one, because so much of the world’s money moves in dollars. The EU and the UK run their own regimes, which overlap with Washington’s but are written and enforced differently. The UN Security Council sits above all three in law but has no enforcement arm of its own.

US export controls and sanctions come with a thick layer of acronyms. News stories about Nvidia, Huawei or chip tools often use them without explanation. This glossary defines the terms that come up most, grouped by the agency or rulebook they belong to, with a note on how each one shows up in practice. Last updated: 15 September 2026. The agencies BIS (Bureau of Industry and Security) The part of the US Commerce Department that runs export controls on commercial and dual-use items, meaning goods, software and technology with both civilian and military uses.