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Trump targets Iran’s trade partners: China, UAE, Turkey
Washington's 'economic D-Day' campaign threatens penalties for Iran's biggest trade partners. China buys 90% of Iranian oil; UAE hub at risk; Turkey, Iraq, India exposed.
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The U.S. announced an “economic D-Day” campaign Monday to isolate Iran from the global economy, threatening penalties against countries and companies that continue doing business with Tehran.
The move targets the trade networks that have sustained Iran’s economy through nearly six months of conflict. Skepticism persists over whether the administration will follow through. The threat puts Washington on a collision course with a handful of governments that account for most of Iran’s remaining foreign trade.
China is the biggest buyer of Iranian oil and serves as Tehran’s crucial link to the global economy, accounting for about 90% of its oil exports, according to U.S. government data.
Beijing reported $9.96 billion in bilateral trade with Iran in 2025, excluding roughly $31.2 billion in unreported Iranian crude oil exports to China that year, according to the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission. Independent Chinese refiners take in the bulk of it, often rebranded as Malaysian or Indonesian crude and settled through intermediaries outside the dollar system, according to Kpler. The U.S. Treasury has sanctioned several of those refineries this year for Iranian oil purchases, while sparing Chinese financial institutions.
Beijing has openly opposed U.S. sanctions against Iran, arguing that economic pressure will not resolve the disputes. In May, China ordered domestic firms to disregard U.S. sanctions on five refiners linked to the Iranian oil trade.
Beijing is unlikely to push back directly on Washington’s sanctions push. It will “quietly step up compliance” among state banks and oil companies to avoid getting caught in the net, Dan Wang, China director at Eurasia Group, said. He pointed to “a dichotomy between the official statement and the private practice.”
“Chinese authorities care more about dollar access in financing and market entry to the U.S.,” Wang said.
The United Arab Emirates, located 50 miles from Iran across the Persian Gulf, has long been a major trading hub for Tehran.
Bilateral trade amounted to around $28 billion in 2024, when the Emirates was Iran’s largest source of imports, contributing over 30%, according to World Trade Organization data. The UAE was also Iran’s third-largest export destination, making up 12% of its shipments, totaling more than $7 billion.
That relationship hit a snag last week after the UAE moved to suspend all trade and financial transactions with Iran, following two ballistic missiles fired toward Emirati territory. One of those missiles targeted UAE-owned tankers.