Report · Money and Finance

Two-thirds of Americans say U.S. tech sanctions are ineffective or counterproductive

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In a Verasight survey of 1,000 U.S. adults conducted April 9 to 15, 2025, 65% of Americans said U.S. export control sanctions on technology are not effective or are counterproductive in stopping sanctioned firms from developing dual-use technology. This includes 35% who said not effective, 19% who said slightly counterproductive in triggering those firms to develop their own technology, and 10% who said completely counterproductive.

About a third said the sanctions are effective in stopping sanctioned firms (35%), with 28% who said slightly effective and 8% who said very effective.

Topline

response scale

Topline scale

65% of Americans say U.S. export control sanctions are not working or are counterproductive.

That being said, to what extent do you think the US sanctions, by restricting the US technology, will succeed in stopping sanctioned entities from developing their own technology and alleviating the national security concerns?

  • Not effective 35.2%
  • Slightly effective in stopping sanctioned firms from developing dual-use technology 27.6%
  • Slightly counterproductive in triggering sanctioned firms to develop their own technology 19.1%
  • Completely counterproductive in triggering sanctioned firms to develop their own technology 10.3%
  • Very effective in stopping sanctioned firms from developing dual-use technology 7.8%

2025 · base n 1,000 · +/- 3.5%

policy

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Methodology

Full methodology
Mode
Verasight panel recruited via random address-based sampling, random person-to-person text messaging, and dynamic online targeting
Field dates
2025-04-09 → 2025-04-15
Base (unweighted)
1,000
Margin of error
+/- 3.5%
Module
policy

Source

Citation

Verasight MPSA Omnibus Survey #2025-026, fielded April 9-15, 2025, N=1,000 US adults age 18+, +/- 3.5%.

https://verasight-mpsa-2025.tiiny.co

Verasight survey methodology

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Mode
Verasight panel recruited via random address-based sampling, random person-to-person text messaging, and dynamic online targeting.
Population
US adults age 18+.
Sample design
Surveys are run as omnibus or single-topic waves. Omnibus waves are split into modules with their own respondent set, typically around one thousand respondents per module.
Field window
Each wave specifies its own field dates. Most omnibus waves field across roughly two weeks.
Weighting
Per-module weighting to CPS targets including age, race and ethnicity, sex, income, education, region, and metropolitan status.
Partisanship benchmark
Pew Research Center's NPORS benchmarking surveys, three-year running average.
Vote benchmark
2024 presidential vote population benchmarks.
Margin of error
Typically about plus or minus 3.4 to 3.6 percent per module at standard module sizes. Question-level MoE is recomputed when a base shrinks materially below the module baseline.
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