Yuan remains stable amid US sanction threats over Iran

The US Treasury Department dropped sanctions on roughly 60 entities and individuals tied to Iranian oil shipping and procurement on August 25, and the yuan barely flinched. For a currency that has historically been sensitive to US-China friction, that kind of composure is turning heads among currency strategists. Several of the sanctioned entities are based in mainland China and Hong Kong, which would normally be the kind of detail that sends the yuan sliding. Instead, the currency held steady in the days following the announcement. The sanctions and why they matter The Treasury’s action, described as part of an “Economic D-Day” initiative, targets the web of shipping firms and procurement networks that help Iran move crude oil to buyers. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent went further, warning that additional sanctions could land on financial institutions conducting trade with Iran. That’s a meaningful escalation in rhetoric, even if the first round stopped short of naming any major Chinese banks. That restraint looks deliberate. A Trump-Xi summit is scheduled for September 2026, and Washington appears to be calibrating its pressure carefully. Beijing, predictably, was not impres...