US President Barack Obama announced Wednesday after meeting with Myanmar's de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi that the United States is prepared to lift some sanctions on the southeast Asian country.

"The United States is now prepared to lift sanctions that we have imposed on Burma for quite some time," he said, speaking in the Oval Office with Aung San Suu Kyi at his side.

Earlier, Obama notified Congress he was reinstating preferential tariffs for Myanmar, also known as Burma.