OFAC Archives Ethiopia Sanctions Program After Executive Order 14046 Emergency Expires
The U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control has archived its Ethiopia-related sanctions program after the national emergency declared under Executive Order 14046 expired.
OFAC announced the change on September 18, 2026. Executive Order 14046 was issued on September 17, 2021 in response to the humanitarian and human rights crisis in northern Ethiopia and provided authority to impose blocking sanctions on persons determined to meet specified criteria connected to the conflict and instability.
Following the expiration of the national emergency, OFAC removed from the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List the persons whose property had been blocked under Executive Order 14046. OFAC also removed frequently asked questions associated with the program and now lists the Ethiopia-related sanctions program as inactive and archived.
The removals affect the four entities and two individuals that Treasury designated under the executive order in November 2021: the Eritrean Defense Force, the People’s Front for Democracy and Justice, Hidri Trust, Red Sea Trading Corporation, Abraha Kassa Nemariam and Hagos Ghebrehiwet W Kidan.
When those designations were imposed, Treasury said the action targeted Eritrean actors it alleged had contributed to the crisis and conflict in Ethiopia. The measures blocked property and interests in property of the designated persons that were in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons, subject to applicable authorizations and exemptions.
The September 2026 action is the consequence of the underlying national emergency expiring, rather than a new waiver for particular transactions. OFAC’s archived program page continues to identify Executive Order 14046, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, the National Emergencies Act and the Ethiopia Sanctions Regulations at 31 CFR Part 550 as the legal framework associated with the now-inactive program.
