What are the U.S. antiboycott rules?
U.S. rules that discourage or prohibit American companies from cooperating with foreign boycotts the U.S. does not sanction, and require reporting certain boycott-related requests.
Plain-English Summary
Why This Matters
These rules are easy to trip over because the boycott pressure arrives quietly, inside ordinary-looking contracts, letters of credit, or shipping documents. A "boycott" hit in screening flags that a counterparty or document may carry such a request. Failing to recognize and report a reportable request is itself a violation, with penalties — so reviewers need to spot the difference between a routine commercial term and a boycott request.
Visual Guide
Routine commercial term
- Ordinary price, delivery, quality terms
- No reference to a boycotted country
- No request to exclude blacklisted firms
Reportable boycott request
- Asks you to certify no dealings with a boycotted country
- Demands information to verify boycott compliance
- Must be refused and reported to BIS
Boycott requests often hide in contracts, letters of credit, and shipping documents. When in doubt, escalate.
Explanation Depth
Concept Explanation
Some foreign customers ask U.S. companies to join a boycott against a country the U.S. is friendly with — for example by promising they do not deal with that country. U.S. law says American companies generally cannot go along with that, and sometimes must report the request to the government even if they say no. A "boycott" alert is a heads-up to read the fine print and pass it to compliance.When You'll See This in SecurePoint
In SecurePoint, a boycott-related match (code 56) routes to review with the relevant document or request; reviewers record the boycott language found and the action taken, and escalate to compliance to handle BIS (and any IRC Section 999) reporting. The system documents the review; the reporting obligation remains the customer's.
What You Should Do Next
When a boycott hit appears, look for boycott-related language in the request or documents (for example, certifications about a boycotted country, or requests to exclude blacklisted firms). Do not agree to prohibited boycott terms. Route the matter to compliance to determine whether the request is reportable to BIS (and whether the tax-code reporting under IRC Section 999 applies), and record the review.
What Can Go Wrong
Sources & References
Need structured workflow compliance?
SecurePoint USA builds these checks, watchlists, approvals, and immutable logs directly into your daily operations.