§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 give Congress a written plan and a briefing within 120 days after April 24, 2024, working with other federal agency leaders. The plan must study ways to better enforce U.S. sanctions and to add more sanctions aimed at China’s role in making, moving, storing, refining, and selling petroleum products that came from Iran. The plan must explain how sanctions used before April 24, 2024, were applied to Chinese people and companies tied to smuggling. It must assess Iranian-owned businesses in China’s refining supply chains, China’s place in global refining and trade partners, how China uses its supply role for political aims, what share of China’s energy comes from illegally imported Iranian petroleum, and how much control the Chinese Communist Party has over private “teapot” refineries. It must include a detailed sea and port monitoring plan to find smuggling, identify vessels (including those doing ship-to-ship transfers, with AIS turned off, or “flag hopping”), and find people or firms that store or refine the goods. It must describe steps to deter violators by engaging insurers, parent companies, and ship operators, working with allies in the Arabian Peninsula, and using public diplomacy. The plan must count smuggling vessels (total, those bound for China, and those from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps), note any Chinese interference with U.S. enforcement, evaluate insurer-targeted sanctions, list needed staff and resources, and describe effects on global energy markets. The plan must be unclassified but may include a classified index.