🇺🇸❌🇨🇺 — The U.S. State Department has imposed new sanctions on nine Cuban entities and three officials as part of the Trump administration’s campaign against the Cuban government.

The measures target senior officials from the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP), including its president Fernando González Llort, as well as state-linked companies operating in mining, metals, construction, trade, and labor services.

Among those sanctioned are Cuba’s Ministry of Construction and major state enterprises involved in nickel and cobalt production, metallurgy, imports, and exports.

🇻🇪🛢 Venezuela’s aging oil ports have become a bottleneck as crude production and exports recover.

Tankers are waiting up to 30 days to load, with equipment failures, power outages, slow transfers and oil leaks causing major delays and costly demurrage.

The problem could worsen as more companies gain the right to market Venezuelan oil independently.

🔗 Clash Report

🇾🇪⚔️🇸🇦 New damage is now visible at the Jazan Oil Refinery in southern Saudi Arabia following the Houthi drone strike on August 18.

New Sentinel-2L satellite imagery confirms that a large oil storage tank at 17°16'47.38"N 42°23'52.82"E was struck and subsequently caught fire.

🔗 Egypt's Intel Observer (@EGYOSINT)

🇨🇳⚔️🇪🇺 China has dragged the EU’s foreign subsidies rules into its wider trade dispute with Brussels, just as the two sides enter a crucial stretch of negotiations.

Beijing’s Ministry of Justice has ordered Chinese companies not to hand over information to EU officials in investigations under the FSR — the bloc’s tool to ensure that players in the single market don’t receive unfair support from abroad.

The notice explicitly mentioned the European Commission’s in-depth probe into JD.com, the Chinese e-commerce giant that is trying to acquire Germany’s Ceconomy, the parent company of consumer electronics retailer MediaMarkt, in a €2 billion deal.

The move appears aimed at adding pressure on Brussels midway through a renewed trade dialogue between the EU and China, with negotiators engaged in intense closed-door discussions over how to narrow the EU’s €1 billion-a-day trade deficit in goods with China. 

The Commission is expected to hold a videoconference with the Chinese Ministry of Commerce in September that would pave the way for a trip by trade chief Maroš Šefčovič to Beijing in early October. 

“China has consistently opposed the EU’s abuse of unilateral tools such as the Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR) to suppress Chinese companies,” a spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Commerce told reporters on Thursday. 

“I would like to emphasize that China and the EU have established a Trade and Investment Consultation (TIC) mechanism and reached a consensus on managing differences through dialogue and consultation,” the spokesperson added.

“We hope the EU will work with China to promptly correct its erroneous practices in the FSR investigation and strengthen communication through intergovernmental dialogue. China will closely monitor the EU’s actions and will take necessary measures to resolutely safeguard national security and the legitimate rights and interests of enterprises.”

🔗 https://www.politico.eu/article/china-eu-foreign-subsidies-regulation-link-trade-talks/

🛢 Drop in Iranian oil offers to Chinese buyers amid US blockade

Offers of Iranian crude oil to Chinese buyers have experienced a significant decline alongside a sharp jump in prices, driven by the reimposition of the US blockade on Tehran's shipping and ports.

According to a report by Reuters, the restrictions have severely constrained shipments from Iran, which serves as a primary source of hard currency for the country.

Trade sources highlighted by Reuters note that offers for September and October delivery cargoes to China have decreased as existing barrels on maritime vessels are progressively sold off.

Furthermore, ship-tracking data from Kpler indicates that Iran's overall oil exports have fallen since mid-July, applying additional pressure on independent refiners in China's Shandong province who frequently process sanctioned crude.

As a result, Chinese traders are now fighting with Indian ones for Russian oil and may soon resort to buying from Kazakhstan and perhaps Azerbaijan, driving up prices even higher and screwing over European buyers.

🔗 The Cradle