§8574 Strategy to Counter Role of the People’s Republic of China in Evasion of Sanctions with Respect to Iran

Summary

The Secretary of State must, within 120 days after April 24, 2024, work with other federal agencies and give Congress a written plan and a briefing about how the People’s Republic of China helps Iran dodge U.S. sanctions on Iranian-origin petroleum products. The plan must include options to make enforcement stronger and to expand sanctions that target Chinese involvement in making, moving, storing, refining, or selling those Iranian petroleum products. The plan must also say how past sanctions (before April 24, 2024) were used against Chinese people and companies tied to smuggling. It must assess Iranian-owned businesses in China, China’s role and partners in global refining and trade, whether China uses that role for political goals, how much of China’s energy use comes from illegally imported Iranian oil, and how much the Chinese Communist Party influences small “teapot” refineries. The plan must give a clear way to watch the seas for smuggling, spot the people, companies, and ships involved (including ships moving sanctioned petrochemicals, doing ship-to-ship transfers, turning off tracking systems, or changing flags), and find those who store or refine these products or use ports to land them. It must say how to deter violators by working with insurers, parent companies, and ship operators; how to train and help allies in the Arabian Peninsula, including by creating or using maritime task forces; and how to use public statements and diplomacy to show how smuggling helps Iran’s support for terrorism and its nuclear program. The report must also estimate the number of smuggling vessels (total, those heading to China, and those tied to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps), any Chinese interference with U.S. investigations, how well sanctions work against insurers of smuggling ships, the staff and money needed to enforce these sanctions, and the effect of smuggled Iranian oil on world energy markets. The plan must be submitted unclassified, but it can include a classified index.