US lifts sanctions on daughter of Myanmar businessman linked to military

WASHINGTON – The United States lifted on Oct 9 sanctions on the daughter of a Myanmar businessman accused of supporting the country’s military, according to the US Treasury Department’s website, after she filed a suit seeking removal from the blacklist.

The move comes after Reuters reported this week that US President Donald Trump’s administration had opened talks with Myanmar’s military-installed government, reversing US policy that sought to isolate the generals who overthrew elected leaders in 2021.

It was unclear if the decision to remove Myanmar national Theint Win Htet from the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List (SDN List) was a result of the talks.

After the 2021 coup, former US President Joe Biden’s administration imposed sanctions on senior Myanmar military officers and companies it accused of providing support for the military junta, which triggered a nationwide civil war that has killed an estimated 100,000 people and displaced more ​than 3.5 million.

The Treasury in January 2024 targeted the Shwe Byain Phyu Group of Companies, its founder Thein Win Zaw and his family, saying the company imported and distributed petroleum on behalf of the military and that the family owned at least 20 companies closely associated with the regime.

Thein Win Zaw’s adult daughter, Theint Win Htet, sued the Biden administration seeking her removal from the SDN List, but her case was dismissed in February 2025. The sanctions freeze any US assets of those targeted and generally bar Americans from dealing with them.

The US in July 2025 lifted sanctions on several other Myanmar nationals and a firm under sanctions for aiding the military.

Theint Win Htet filed a new complaint in July 2026, arguing that she has no active role in her father’s business affairs, adding that the sanctions had interrupted her studies in the US, where she completed a bachelor’s degree at New York University and was enrolled in a master’s programme at Columbia University.

“Plaintiff’s US credit cards have been blocked, her foreign bank accounts have been restricted, closed or refused, and she has been unable to complete her university studies in the United States,” said the complaint by Theint Win Htet, who said in the complaint she now lives with her mother in Bangkok. Her mother was removed from the sanctions list in 2025.

Campaign group Justice For Myanmar denounced the US move at a time when it said the Myanmar military was escalating attacks on civilians.

“It is deplorable that the US government continues to delist Myanmar cronies and their family members that provide funding for the junta’s terror,” the group said.

Theint Win Htet’s lawyer, Washington-based sanctions specialist Erich Ferrari, filed a notice with the US District Court for the District of Columbia on Oct 9 voluntarily dismissing the lawsuit after her delisting. Ferrari declined to comment. REUTERS