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WASHINGTON — A year after President Donald Trump vowed to lift all sanctions on Syria to support its economic recovery, its continued designation as a state sponsor of terrorism is deterring much-needed investment and risks creating a vacuum that Chinese companies could fill. 

Since Trump’s May 2025 meeting with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Riyadh, his administration has rescinded layers of US sanctions through executive orders, relaxed export controls, revoked the terror designation of Sharaa’s former militant group and worked with Congress to lift the Caesar Act, which authorized sweeping sanctions on foreigners supporting the Syrian government and sectors including infrastructure and energy. 

Syria envoy Tom Barrack is among those in the administration who have advocated for Syria’s removal from the State Department's list of countries that have "repeatedly provided support for acts of international terrorism,” a designation it shares only with Cuba, Iran and North Korea. Imposed in 1979, Syria's SST label carries restrictions on US foreign assistance, defense sales and the export of certain dual-use goods.