The United States is upping the ante in its effort to sanction Iran, and its efforts may further complicate its ongoing trade war with China and affect the flow of oil worldwide. On August 16, the head of the new Iran Action Group , Brian Hook, announced that the U.S. would sanction any country that purchased oil from Iran after the November 4 deadline. China has shown no indication that it plans to cooperate with the U.S., and Hook did not rule out imposing secondary sanctions on China if it continues its purchases of Iranian oil. While other importers of Iranian crude, including Japan and South Korea, had scaled back their purchases, China has actually increased its imports from Iran. In August China announced a round of tariffs on U.S. goods, including some oil products, though it exempted U.S. crude from the list. Nevertheless, Chinese imports of U.S. energy […]