Myanmar (Burma) and the United States had a diplomatic contact prior to the British colonial period. They established formal diplomatic relations in 1947 in anticipation of Burma's independence.

In the early 1950s, the United States supported elements of the defeated Chinese Nationalist military which fled to Burma after their defeat in the Chinese Civil War. This support caused strain in the Burma-United States relationship.

The political relationship between the United States of America and Myanmar began to face major problems following the 1988 military coup and the junta's outbursts of repression against pro-democracy activists. Subsequent campaigns of repression, including the repression of protestors in 2007 and 2021, further strained the relationship. In the 2010s, following signs of democratisation and economic liberalisation, the United States lifted sanctions with Hillary Clinton, as Secretary of State, calling for the mending of US relations with Myanmar. However, the US re-imposed targeted sanctions following the 2017 Rohingya genocide and the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, focusing on individuals involved in atrocities to prevent ineffective sanctions or sanctions that would diminish US influence in Myanmar.

In a Gallup public opinion poll conducted in 2012, 30% of Myanmar people approved of U.S. leadership, with 67% expressing uncertainty and 3% expressing disapproval.Snapshot: U.S. Leadership Unknown in Myanmar Gallup

History 19th century relations The first contact between the Konbaung Dynasty of Burma and the United States were the letters sent from King Mindon in 1856–57 to Presidents Franklin Pierce and James Buchanan. King Mindon hoped for a bilateral treaty that would help provide some protection against the British Empire.

Later on March 20, 1879, former US President Ulysses Grant visited Rangoon for a short visit on a round-the-world tour following his retirement from the presidency. At the time of his visit, lower Burma, including Rangoon, had been lost to the British in the Second Anglo-Burmese War. Grant was impressed with Rangoon and predicted it would become one of the biggest and most important cities in Asia.

Mid-20th century relations

The US Embassy Rangoon was established 19 September 1947 in anticipation of Burma's independence with Earl L. Packer as the first Chargé d'Affaires ad interim. The first ambassador Jerome Klahr Huddle was appointed on 17 October later that year.

After their defeat in the Chinese Civil War, parts of the Nationalist army retreated south and crossed the border into Burma. The United States supported these Nationalist forces because the United States hoped they would harass the People's Republic of China from the southwest, thereby diverting Chinese resources from the Korean War. The Burmese government protested and international pressure increased. Beginning in 1953, several rounds of withdrawals of the Nationalist forces and their families were carried out. In 1960, joint military action by China and Burma expelled the remaining Nationalist forces from Burma, although some went on to settle in the Burma-Thailand borderlands.

In response to Prime Minister U Nu's policies of moderate socialism in the 1950s, the United States Embassy in Rangoon translated and published George Orwell's Animal Farm in Burmese, as a propaganda tool. As of 2023, this is the only one of Orwell's works to have been translated into the language.

Despite the relationship between the two countries being periodically troubled, the United States generally tried to maintain good relations with Burma, for multiple reasons. The country was and remains a strategically important one, being on the Bay of Bengal and bordering both India and China. Rangoon hosted both the Soviet and Chinese embassies, which made it a good listening post during the Sino-Soviet split of the 1960s. Burmese heroin was flooding the United States, and stopping this trade, and the money laundering that came with it, was a priority.

8888 Uprising and 1990s relations The 8888 Uprising in 1988 saw mass protests in Burma against the totalitarian rule of General Ne Win. American House Representative Stephen Solarz arrived in Burma in September to encourage reform echoing the policy of the U.S. government towards Burma.United States State Department, 1988 Protestors demonstrated outside the United States embassy in Yangon hoping for international attention and American intervention. After six months, the protests led to a bloody military coup by the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC). SLORC imposed martial law and cracked down on protests, including killing 500 protestors outside the United States embassy.

As David I. Sternberg wrote, "Essentially, U.S. policy from 1988 through 2001 was on a single track: human rights. Economic, strategic, narcotics, even humanitarian issues were not pursued." Many believed that the new military regime would collapse if the countries refused to recognize the legitimacy of the coup. The United States imposed the most restrictive sanctions of the many countries that cut aid and placed sanctions. In 1989, the military junta changed the country's name from Burma to Myanmar alongside many other English names like that of Yangon/Rangoon. The United States remains one of a few countries to still do not recognize the 1989 changes arguing that the name change was made without the consent of the people by an illegitimate government. The United States downgraded its level of representation in Myanmar from Ambassador to Chargé d'Affaires after the government's crackdown on the democratic opposition in 1988 and its failure to honour the results of the 1990 parliamentary election.

The Massachusetts state government attempted to sanction Myanmar directly in 1996 but those efforts proved unconstitutional. In addition, since May 1997, the U.S. Government has prohibited new investment by U.S. persons or entities. A number of U.S. companies exited the Myanmar market even prior to the imposition of sanctions due to a worsening business climate and mounting criticism from human rights groups, consumers, and shareholders. The United States has also imposed countermeasures on Myanmar due to its inadequate measures to eliminate money laundering.

2000s relations Later, the United States federal government imposed broad sanctions against Myanmar under several different legislative and policy vehicles. The Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act (BFDA), passed by Congress and signed by the President in 2003, included a ban on all imports from Myanmar, a ban on the export of financial services to Myanmar, a freeze on the assets of certain Burmese financial institutions, and extended visa restrictions on Burmese officials. The BFDA was accompanied by Executive Order 13310 banning the import of products and export of financial services to Myanmar signed in the aftermath of the Depayin massacre. Congress has renewed the BFDA annually until the 2010s.

The Saffron Revolution in 2007 and 2008 saw another period of mass social unrest in Myanmar. In response, the U.S. Department of Treasury designated 25 senior Burmese government officials as subject to an asset block under Executive Order 13310 on 27 September 2007. Later on October 19, President George W. Bush announced a new Executive Order (E.O. 13448) expanding the authority to block assets to individuals who are responsible for human rights abuses and public corruption, as well as those who provide material and financial support to the regime. On 30 April 2008, Executive Order 13464 further expanded the authority to freeze assets, which was used to seize 110 individual entities’ assets. These restrictions would remain in place until 2016.

As Cyclone Nargis ravaged the country in 2008 and the military government pushed forward with their constitutional referendum, the US House of Representatives voted unanimously in favour of House Resolution 4286 awarding a congressional gold medal to Aung San Suu Kyi for her commitment to peace, nonviolence, human rights and democracy.

Due to its particularly severe violations of religious freedom, the United States has designated Myanmar a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) under the International Religious Freedom Act. Myanmar is also designated a Tier 3 Country in the Trafficking in Persons Report for its use of forced labour, and is subject to additional sanctions as a result. The political relationship between the United States and Myanmar worsened after the 1988 military coup and violent suppression of pro-democracy demonstrations. Subsequent repression, including the brutal crackdown on peaceful protestors in September 2007, further strained the relationship.

2010s relations

In the wake of reforms pursued by the military under the new 2008 Constitution of Myanmar. US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, visited Myanmar in November–December 2011. In this visit, the first by a Secretary of State since 1955, Clinton met with the President of Myanmar, Thein Sein, in the capital Naypyidaw, and later met with democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi in Yangon. The US announced a relaxation of curbs on aid and raised the possibility of an exchange of ambassadors. On January 13, 2012, the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced the US will exchange ambassadors with Myanmar, after a landmark Burmese political prisoner amnesty.

On Thursday, May 17, 2012, President Barack Obama nominated Derek Mitchell to the U.S. Senate for confirmation to serve as Ambassador to Myanmar. After being confirmed by the U.S. Senate in late June, Derek Mitchell, the first U.S. ambassador to Myanmar in 22 years formally assumed his job on July 11, 2012, by presenting his credentials to President Thein Sein at the presidential mansion in the capital Naypyidaw.

In July 2012 the United States formally eased sanctions on Myanmar. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced plans in the spring of 2012 for a “targeted easing” of sanctions to allow American dollars to enter the country. President Obama ordered the U.S. Treasury Department to issue two licenses, one giving special permission for investment in Myanmar and the other allowing financial services. Although plans were announced in May, the change awaited detailed reporting requirements on U.S. companies doing business in Myanmar and the creation of mechanisms to prevent U.S. economic ties to the military, individuals and companies involved in human rights abuses.

President Obama also issued an executive order expanding existing sanctions against individuals to include those who threaten Myanmar's political restructuring process. This meant that The United States would not allow investment in military entities owned by Myanmar's armed forces or its Ministry of Defense. The United States continued to block businesses or individuals from transacting with any “specially designated nationals” or businesses that they control — allowing Washington to stop money from flowing to groups disrupting the reform process or blocking peace. Businesses with more than $500,000 in investment in the country were required to file an annual report with the State Department, with details on workers’ rights, land acquisitions and any payments of more than $10,000 to government entities and state-owned enterprises.