The U.S. government can legally control a deal between two people in another country just because they used a few U.S. dollars.
April 10, 2026
Original Paper
Hiding in Plain Sight: Currency-Based Jurisdiction in U.S. Sanctions Enforcement
SSRN · 6439345
The Takeaway
Using U.S. currency acts like a 'legal anchor' that gives Washington jurisdiction over people who have never stepped foot in America. This hidden mechanism allows the U.S. to enforce global sanctions without needing international treaties.
From the abstract
That the United States government exerts pressure on parties around the world through its use of economic sanctions is widely known. Less noticed, but no less significant, is a particular jurisdictional move in U.S. sanctions practice: attaching sanctions to transactions that never touch U.S. territory and involve no U.S. persons, yet are denominated in U.S. dollars. This “currency-based jurisdiction” occupies a liminal space between the traditional categories of “primary” and “secondary” sancti