US Economic Campaign Against Iran Halted by China

The US Treasury's economic onslaught on Iran has a major hurdle: China. The Trump administration is trying to isolate Iran from its remaining economic partners, but Beijing is Iran's biggest trading partner and leading oil buyer.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent declared the economic onslaught, but specifics about targeting China were absent from his remarks. This raises doubts about how effective the new campaign will be when the US must balance putting maximum pressure on Iran with avoiding higher tensions with China that could harm the American economy.

Experts say China is likely to wait and see before taking action, and will do the minimum required to comply without openly confronting the US. Beijing's cooperation with Iran has been within international law, according to Lin Jian, a spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry. However, Kagan, a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, notes that China may try to push Iran to reduce its cooperation.

The Trump administration has refrained from imposing sanctions on major Chinese businesses or banks connected to the US financial system, despite targeting nearly 60 Iran-linked entities. With Xi Jinping's visit to Washington just weeks away, neither side wants a major escalation in tensions at this point. Analysts predict that China will demonstrate cooperation without completely severing ties with Iran.