U.S. temporarily lifts trade restrictions on Myanmar shipping hubs

The United States is temporarily easing trade restrictions on Myanmar by allowing all shipments to go through its ports and airports for six months, an effort to boost the Southeast Asian country's opposition party after its landmark election win in November, U.S. officials said on Monday. 

The policy change, coming after Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) won a landslide victory last month in Myanmar's first nationwide free elections in 25 years, applies even to ports and airports controlled by entities on the U.S. sanctions blacklist, the officials said. 

To bolster Myanmar's transition to democracy after decades of military rule, U.S. officials began lifting sanctions against the country after a civilian government was formed in 2011. But officials acknowledged on Monday that remaining U.S. sanctions against those with ties to Myanmar's military have had the unintended consequence of halting "many, many dozens" of shipments.

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