Beijing rejects secondary sanctions after the Russia and Iran act becomes law

China rejected so-called secondary sanctions aimed at third countries following the signing into US law of the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026⁷. A spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Commerce made the remarks on Saturday in response to the new law⁴.

Beijing has consistently opposed unilateral sanctions and so-called secondary sanctions, the spokesperson said^2,6. China consistently opposes imposing secondary sanctions on other countries on the pretext of their involvement with a third party, and reserves the right to take measures of its own⁵. The ministry also urged Washington to keep trade ties steady^4,7.

Three separate accounts carried the same formulation from the ministry, which points to a prepared position rather than an off-the-cuff reply^2,3,6. The statement was issued on Saturday in response to the new law^4,7.

Why it matters to investors

The law reaches beyond Russia. Among other measures, it authorises secondary sanctions against the five largest buyers of Russian crude oil and natural gas¹. That is a design that puts the purchasers, and the banks and refiners that finance and process those barrels, inside the sanctions perimeter rather than outside it^1,5.

Beijing’s objection is to the legal principle as much as to this statute. Its stated position is that measures taken against one country on account of its dealings with another lack authorisation and should not be applied^2,5. The commerce ministry paired that objection with an appeal to keep the trading relationship stable, which is the part directed at markets rather than at lawyers⁷.

What to watch

The timing is the story. Beijing registered its opposition in advance of a high-stakes meeting in Washington between the two sides³. The statement therefore functions as a marker laid down before talks rather than as a retaliation^3,4.

Two things follow. The first is whether the administration designates any of the five largest buyers named in the law’s reach, which would turn an authorisation into an enforcement action¹. The second is what China does with the right to respond that it has reserved, since the ministry stopped short of announcing any countermeasure when it objected^5,6. Until one of those happens, the exposure sits in the statute rather than in any specific designation^1,7. The five largest buyers of Russian crude oil and natural gas are the group the statute reaches¹.