BREAKING NEWS:
CHINA’S LEADERSHIP THIS WEEKEND said “no” to a global order issued by U.S. President Donald Trump—and today analysts worldwide are holding their breath to see if the mercurial leader will back down.
The Trump administration last week again ordered the world, including specific firms in China, to stop trading with Iranians—the latest in a long series of similar instructions issued since early 2025.
But China said on Saturday that it will not comply—and ordered five named major Chinese oil traders to carry on, ignoring Washington’s threats.
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TECHNICALLY ILLEGAL
America’s global orders are technically cases of illegal transnational economic coercion.
But the US’s huge economic and military power has meant countries normally obey, in fear of US secondary sanctions.
Not this time.
A defiant statement from China’s commerce ministry pointed out the obvious, which is that the US measures unlawfully restrict normal trade with third countries.
“The Chinese government has consistently opposed unilateral sanctions that lack authorization from the United Nations and a basis in international law,” the department said on Saturday.
The Chinese also said the US action “breaches international norms”—a reference to US long-held defiance of World Trade Organization rules.
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PLAYING HARDBALL
To protect its firms, China also used the law. It deployed a blocking measure it had introduced in 2021 to shield Chinese companies from the unfair transnational techniques favored by the United States.
It issued an order banning recognition, enforcement, and compliance with US sanctions aimed at the Hengli Petrochemical (Dalian) Refinery Co and four other firms in the same trade.
That means the Chinese firms, and the banks and other organizations which deal with them, have to stand together.
What will happen next?
Trump could issue additional repressive secondary sanctions on the Chinese banks and others: this would be a major escalation in the US assault on world’s free trade.
Or the unpredictable US leader could fail to move ahead, and then just shift to something else—such as relaunching the US attack on Iran.
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YOU CAN SAY NO
Either way, China’s pushback is significant. The world normally obeys American extraterritorial orders out of fear of secondary sanctions.
But China has shown that you can say no.
The friction comes just weeks before Chinese leader Xi Jinping is due to have a summit with US President Donald Trump.