# US Treaty and Organization Withdrawal Timeline A chronology of American exits from international organizations, treaties, and courts. The long tail runs back to the 1980s; the concentration is 2025–2026, when the United States withdrew from more international bodies in eighteen months than in the preceding eighty years combined. > [!info] Why this is one timeline and not several > Climate, health, trade, arms control, and human rights are normally tracked separately because they are separate policy domains. They are combined here because the 2025–26 actions were not domain decisions — they came from a single review process ([[Executive Order 14199]]) and a single instrument ([[2026 International Organizations Withdrawal Memorandum]]). The pattern is only visible when the domains are collapsed onto one axis. ## Precedents (1985–2021) | Date | Action | |---|---| | 1985-10 | US terminates its declaration accepting compulsory jurisdiction of the [[International Court of Justice]], following *Nicaragua v. United States* | | 1984 / 2017 | US withdraws from UNESCO (Reagan), rejoins 2003, withdraws again (first Trump term), rejoins 2023 | | 2002-05 | US "unsigns" the [[Rome Statute]]; Congress passes the American Service-Members' Protection Act | | 2017-06 | First announced [[Paris Agreement]] withdrawal (later reversed) | | 2018-05 | US exits the [[JCPOA]] | | 2018-06 | US withdraws from the UN Human Rights Council (first term) | | 2019-08 | INF Treaty terminated | | 2019-12 | WTO Appellate Body ceases to function as the US blocks appointments | | 2020-05 | US exits the Open Skies Treaty | | 2021 | Biden administration rejoins Paris, the Human Rights Council, WHO, and UNESCO | ## The 2025–2026 Sequence ### 2025 | Date | Action | |---|---| | 2025-01-20 | WHO withdrawal announced; Paris Agreement withdrawal notified | | 2025-01-22 | Formal WHO withdrawal notice filed | | 2025-02-04 | [[Executive Order 14199]] — exit UN Human Rights Council, end all [[UNRWA]] funding, 90-day UNESCO review, **180-day review of all international organizations receiving US funds** | | 2025-02-06 | [[Executive Order 14203]] — sanctions on the [[International Criminal Court]] | | 2025-02-13 | ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan designated under EO 14203 | | 2025-06-24 | NATO Hague summit — allies commit to 5% of GDP by 2035 (3.5% core defence + 1.5% defence-related) | | 2025-07-09 | UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese designated | | 2025-07-18 | US formally rejects the 2024 amendments to the International Health Regulations | | 2025-07-22 | UNESCO withdrawal announced, effective end of December 2026 | | 2025-10 | Trump directs nuclear weapons testing "on an equal basis" with other countries | | 2025-10-29 | Pentagon declines to replace a rotating brigade in Romania; US troops there drop from ~1,700 to ~1,000 | | 2025-07-15 | Ukraine's parliament votes to *suspend* the [[Ottawa Mine Ban Convention]] — a mechanism the treaty does not contain | | 2025-09-12 | NATO launches **Operation Eastern Sentry** after Poland and [[Estonia]] invoke Article 4 | | 2025-11-07 | **US becomes the first country ever to skip its own Universal Periodic Review** at the Human Rights Council | | 2025-11-17 | UN Security Council Resolution 2803 — US-drafted Gaza "Board of Peace" adopted 13-0-2 | | 2025-12-02 | Defense Secretary directive expands US landmine use, reversing 2022 policy | | 2025-12-27 | Estonia, [[Latvia]] and [[Lithuania]] leave the [[Ottawa Mine Ban Convention]] — the first withdrawals in 28 years | | 2025-12-15 | ICC Appeals Chamber rejects Israel's jurisdictional challenge; Netanyahu and Gallant warrants stand | | 2025-12-18 | US sanctions two of the ICC judges who ruled three days earlier | | 2025-12-30 | UN General Assembly adopts a $3.45B regular budget for 2026, ~7% below 2025, abolishing 2,900 posts | ### 2026 | Date | Action | |---|---| | **2026-01-07** | **[[2026 International Organizations Withdrawal Memorandum]] — withdrawal from 66 bodies (35 non-UN, 31 UN)** | | 2026-01-08 | Treasury withdraws from the Green Climate Fund and resigns its board seat | | 2026-01-10 | Finland's [[Ottawa Mine Ban Convention]] withdrawal takes effect | | 2026-01-22 | **WHO withdrawal takes effect** | | 2026-01-27 | **[[Paris Agreement]] withdrawal takes effect** — US joins [[Libya]], Yemen and Iran as non-parties | | 2026-01-30 | UN Secretary-General warns of "imminent financial collapse" | | 2026-02-05 | **New START expires** — the last bilateral US–Russia strategic arms treaty, with no successor and no mutual moratorium | | 2026-02-06 | FY2026 State-Foreign Operations Appropriations Act enacted; CIO funding ~10% below recent levels | | 2026-02-19 | US pays ~$160M toward ~$4B owed to the UN | | 2026-02-20 | ***Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump*** — Supreme Court holds IEEPA authorizes no tariffs | | 2026-02-24 | All IEEPA tariffs cease collection; replaced by a Section 122 global tariff | | 2026-02-20 | Poland's [[Ottawa Mine Ban Convention]] withdrawal takes effect; Poland announces plans to procure ~15 million mines | | 2026-02-27 | **UNFCCC withdrawal notice deposited — effective 27 February 2027, the first such exit by any nation** | | 2026-01-06 | Paris Declaration — [[Coalition of the Willing]] stands up a Multinational Force for Ukraine | | 2026-01-23 | **2026 National Defense Strategy** — European allies expected to take primary responsibility for Russia | | 2026-02-11 | NATO launches **Operation Arctic Sentry** in the High North | | 2026-02-13 | Munich Security Conference — [[Marco Rubio]] replaces [[JD Vance]]; warmer tone, same substance | | 2026-03-25 | State Department: no decision yet on the form of any nuclear testing program | | 2026-03-30 | WTO MC14 in Yaoundé ends with no ministerial declaration; the 1998 e-commerce moratorium lapses | | 2026-05-07 | Court of International Trade invalidates the Section 122 tariffs; stayed on appeal five days later | | 2026-03-12 | US files an Article 63 declaration of intervention in *South Africa v. Israel* under the [[Genocide Convention]] | | 2026-03-31 | The Kyoto Protocol's international transaction log ceases operations — see [[Kyoto Protocol]] | | 2026-05-22 | 11th NPT Review Conference ends with no consensus document — the third consecutive failure | | 2026-05 | US cuts Brigade Combat Teams in Europe from four to three; 5,000 troops out of Germany; Poland deployment delayed | | 2026-05-30 | [[AUKUS]] Pillar 1 amended — three in-service Virginia-class boats for Australia; first Pillar 2 agreement signed | | 2026-06-18 | Islamabad Memorandum signed with Iran — see [[Trump-Iran MOU 2026]] | | **2026-07-01** | **USMCA joint review — the US declines to extend, triggering annual reviews through 2036** | | 2026-07-08 | NATO Ankara summit — see [[NATO Summit Ankara 2026]] | | **2026-07-24** | **ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan removed from office**, 82 of 125 states parties voting | | 2026-07-24 | Section 122 expires; replaced by Section 301 tariffs on 60 trading partners — see [[Section 301 Forced Labor Tariffs]] | | 2026-05-21 | FY2026 refugee ceiling raised 7,500 → 17,500; all 10,000 added slots allocated to Afrikaners — see [[Refugee Convention]] | | 2026-05-26 | EPA finalizes extended [[Montreal Protocol]] compliance deadlines to 2032 — timelines relaxed, phasedown not repealed | | 2026-07-09 | OPCW reinstates [[Syria]]'s rights after inspectors find undeclared stockpiles — see [[Chemical Weapons Convention]] | | 2026-07-28 | DHS interim rule allows asylum referrals without an interview — see [[Refugee Convention]] | | 2026-07-29 | Pentagon launches a **Europe force-posture review** under [[Elbridge Colby]]; up to six months, no reductions announced | | 2026-08-11 | Broad constitutional challenge to EO 14203 filed in S.D.N.Y. | | 2026-07-20 | Section 338 tariffs proclaimed on Canadian dairy, vehicles, alcohol — see [[USMCA]] | | 2026-08-10 | Senate passes a two-year AGOA extension in a CR; still needs House passage — see [[African Union]] | | 2026-08-21 | **US–Canada trade talks collapse.** Canadian officials fail to get a deal framework in front of [[Donald Trump]] before the deadline | | 2026-08-22 | **Section 338 tariffs take effect**, 12:01 a.m. ET — 50% on 554 Canadian tariff lines (439 motor-vehicle, 63 alcoholic-beverage, 52 dairy). First use of the authority by any president; [[USMCA]] preference does not exempt | | 2026-08-22 | [[Mark Carney]] announces dollar-for-dollar retaliation and drops the diplomatic register: "You're at war when you get attacked. We got attacked." | ## Pending | Date | Expected | |---|---| | 2026-09-08 | **Canadian counter-tariffs take effect** — C$27.6B (~US$19.9B) across 700+ US products at 15%/25%/50%; steel, dairy, appliances, agricultural equipment, pulp and paper, electronics | | 2026-08 (end) | UN regular-budget cash projected to run out | | 2026-11 | Rescheduled US Universal Periodic Review at the Human Rights Council | | 2026-12 | UNESCO withdrawal takes effect; ICC elects six judges | | 2026-12-31 | UN Secretary-General's term ends | | 2026-11-09 | COP31, Antalya — the last before the US exit takes effect | | 2027-02-27 | **UNFCCC withdrawal takes effect** | | 2027-03-25 | Statutory UNRWA funding ban expires | ## Four Modes The 2025-26 record is usually described as "withdrawal," but four distinct mechanisms are in use, and they are not interchangeable. Sorting them is the most useful thing this timeline does. | Mode | Mechanism | Cases | |---|---|---| | **Exit** | Formal notice, depositary notification, effective date | WHO · [[Paris Agreement]] · UNFCCC · the 66 bodies in the [[2026 International Organizations Withdrawal Memorandum]] | | **Procedural strangulation** | Stay a member; decline to perform the act that keeps the institution functioning | [[World Trade Organization]] Appellate Body — appointments blocked since 2017, non-functional since December 2019 | | **Defunding without exit** | Retain membership and vote; stop paying | [[Organization of American States]] (FY2027 request $0 against a 49.99% budget share) · [[UN General Assembly]] (~95% of all outstanding regular-budget dues) | | **Capture** | Take the chair; narrow the agenda; exclude members | [[G20]] 2026 presidency — three pillars, climate and debt and development cut, South Africa disinvited, summit at a property the President owns | Two observations follow. **Only the first mode is legible.** Exit generates a Federal Register notice, a depositary filing, a litigation question, and a news cycle. The other three generate nothing citable. An institution can be rendered non-functional — the Appellate Body — with no announcement at any point, and the absence of an announcement is precisely what makes it durable. **Leverage predicts the mode.** Where the US holds a veto or permanent seat, the institution is kept: [[UN Security Council]], [[International Monetary Fund]], [[World Bank]]. Where it holds a rotating chair, the institution is captured: [[G20]]. Where it holds only a vote and a bill, the institution is defunded or left: [[UN General Assembly]], [[Organization of American States]], UNESCO, the Human Rights Council. Where the institution can rule against the United States, its personnel are sanctioned: the [[International Criminal Court]]. **A fifth mechanism has no instrument at all: letting the clock run out.** [[New START]] expired on 5 February 2026 because the negotiation that would have replaced it did not happen. No notice, no notification, no Federal Register entry — the least visible mechanism of the five and the hardest to attribute, which is why the NPT review conference three months later deleted the language calling on both parties to maintain the lapsed limits. A sixth case sits between the modes. The **[[OSCE]]** is on no withdrawal list — verified against the primary document — but the US cut its delegation level, demanded a €15M budget reduction by December 2026, and as of July 2026 no ODIHR needs assessment was recorded for the November midterms. Pressure applied from inside, with no exit and nothing to cite. The one institution that breaks the pattern is the [[OECD]] — no US veto, authored a tax regime the administration rejected, and still attended at ministerial level. What spared it was that it renegotiated the standard rather than proceeding over American objection. See that page for why the exception is the sharpest evidence for the rule. ## Reading the Shape Three things stand out when the sequence is laid on one axis. **The 2025 actions were instruments; the 2026 actions were effects.** Almost everything that "happened" in January 2026 — WHO, Paris — was decided in January 2025 and simply matured. Withdrawal clauses carry notice periods, typically a year. This means the visible pace of 2026 understates how much was already locked in, and it means the UNFCCC exit in February 2027 is already fixed absent a reversal. **The pattern is exit, not renegotiation.** There is one clear counter-example: Resolution 2803 and the Gaza Board of Peace, where the administration *built* multilateral machinery rather than leaving it. That exception is instructive — the US drafted it, controls the structure, and holds the pen. Multilateralism the US authors is acceptable; multilateralism the US merely participates in is not. **Arms control is the domain with no successor plan.** Every other exit leaves something behind — a bilateral track, a domestic statute, an alternative forum. New START expired with no replacement, no mutual moratorium, and a unilateral conditional restraint declaration from Moscow that expires the moment either side exceeds the old limits. This is the only line on the timeline with no floor under it. ## See Also - [[2026 International Organizations Withdrawal Memorandum]] — the central document - [[Executive Order 14199]] · [[Executive Order 14203]] - [[International Criminal Court]] · [[International Court of Justice]] - [[International Law Hub]] — the instruments these withdrawals target - [[Cold War Timeline]] — the era in which most of these institutions were built - [[USMCA]] · [[NAFTA]] · [[World Trade Organization]] — the trade track - [[NATO]] · [[AUKUS]] · [[Quadrilateral Security Dialogue]] · [[Coalition of the Willing]] · [[OSCE]] — the security track - [[Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty]] · [[New START]] · [[INF Treaty]] · [[Ottawa Mine Ban Convention]] — the treaty track - [[UN Framework Convention on Climate Change]] · [[Montreal Protocol]] — climate exit and climate counter-case - [[G20]] · [[G7]] · [[OECD]] — the forums - [[Timelines Hub]]