By Max Fillion

Good morning. The U.S. is looking to increase economic sanctions on Iran and its trade partners. But the new measures might not land a sought-after knockout blow, Risk Journal reports. (free link)

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Monday that anyone doing business with Iran could face sanctions, launching what he called “Operation Economic Outcast.” The U.S. sanctioned more than 60 entities, individuals and vessels across the world that enable the regime to procure nuclear and missile technology, earn revenue from oil and carry out cyber operations, Bessent said.

• All eyes on China: These moves might have a limited effect, and would hinge upon secondary tariffs and sanctions on China, according to analysts and researchers from think tanks and consultancies. The country imports about 90% of Iran’s oil, which has been key in keeping Iran afloat through the war with the U.S. and Israel. “Dealing a crippling blow to Iran’s economy would probably require taking on major Chinese firms and banks, and no such steps were taken,” said Daniel Fried, Weiser family distinguished fellow at the Atlantic Council and a former U.S assistant secretary of state for Europe.

• Chinese response: On Tuesday, China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said that the country would do everything in its power to defend its interests. “Economic warfare and maximum pressure provide no solution,” Lin said. “On the contrary, they only serve to fuel tensions and lead to risk spillover, which will disrupt the global economic and financial order, and harm the legitimate rights and interests of other countries. The pressing task is to facilitate the de-escalation of the situation and return to dialogue and negotiation as soon as possible.”

• Undercutting effect: The gap between the language the Trump administration used and the sanctions action taken on Monday could erode the deterrent effect the sanctions are intended to have, said Britt Mosman, a former Treasury official who now works as a partner at Willkie Farr & Gallagher. “When you go this big, calling it ‘Economic D-Day’ and using all of this rhetoric, if it’s followed by the same pattern of designating small entities while leaving all the major financial channels intact, I think global counterparties could conclude that the cost of doing business with China is manageable,” Mosman said.

• See also: New Tanker Strike in Hormuz as Iran Vows Retaliation for U.S. Economic Offensive

Argentine sports marketers to admit to FIFA bribes.

Risk Journal reports: A father and son who co-own an Argentine sports marketing company are set to admit to bribing international soccer officials with tens of millions of dollars in exchange for marketing rights to valuable matches, prosecutors said. (free link)

Hugo and Mariano Jinkis will enter deferred prosecution agreements resolving Justice Department allegations filed more than a decade ago, according to a notice prosecutors filed in New York federal court and unsealed on Tuesday. The terms of the agreements haven’t been made public.

California attorney general ramps up criticism of Paramount.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta took Paramount to task Tuesday, accusing the company of focusing on “the court of public opinion instead of the court of law” as it tries to preserve its $81 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery.

Speaking at a press conference, Bonta expressed confidence that the lawsuit he and 11 other state attorneys general filed last month to block the media merger will succeed in court. He said that is why Paramount has been eager to meet with his office to discuss potential settlement conditions.

• Securities regulators are investigating the trading of Situational Awareness, Leopold Aschenbrenner’s AI-focused hedge fund that suffered billions of dollars in losses last month before selling the bulk of its portfolio.

• Deloitte has agreed to pay nearly $21.5 million to settle allegations that it defrauded the federal government by continuing to consider diversity when making hiring, promotion and staffing decisions.

• The progressive agenda of New York City’s socialist mayor is bringing him head-to-head with Amazon.com.

• An Ohio company has agreed to pay $1 million to settle allegations that it exported machinery equipment to a sanctioned entity in Russia, Risk Journal reports. (free link)

The value Anthropic plans to tell investors it sees in its revenue opportunities, according to people familiar with the matter.

Canada hits back at U.S. with tariffs targeting midterm hot spots.

Canada plans to impose tariffs of up to 50% on roughly 700 American products in retaliation for new U.S. levies, Canadian officials said Tuesday, escalating tensions between two of the world’s most closely integrated economies.

The Canadian tariffs were designed to protect domestic companies hit by a fresh set of hefty U.S. tariffs and to sting President Trump and his Republican Party as they head into a difficult midterm election in November, Canadian officials said. The new levies would go into effect Sept. 8, affecting about $20 billion worth of goods, or roughly 7% of total U.S. imports.

See also:

• How Will the New Canadian Tariffs Affect the U.S. Economy?

• Detroit Needs Canada More Than the Rest of the U.S. Does

• Trump Threatens to Rename Lake Ontario as Spat With Canada Escalates

• Deepening U.S.-Canada Trade Fight Spells More Pain For Winemakers

OpenAI’s head of data centers has left the company.

A key executive overseeing OpenAI’s data-center build-out, Chris Malone, left the company last week, according to people familiar with the matter, joining a wave of leadership departures ahead of a planned public offering.

Malone joined OpenAI as head of data centers in March 2025, shortly after the company announced Stargate, an ambitious effort with Oracle and SoftBank to build data centers to meet its rapidly growing computing needs.

• It was a $6 million “thank you.” Longtime Forbes editor in chief Randall Lane received the payment that led to his firing after advising RJ Shook on the sale of his research company to a private-equity firm last summer, according to Shook.

• The artificial intelligence boom has put the spotlight on tech companies, but one of Taiwan’s biggest AI winners has nothing to do with chips—it’s a furniture-component maker whose founder is now Taiwan’s richest person.

• You may have heard it before—when quantum computing gets here, it’s going to upend cybersecurity. That’s because this emerging class of superpowerful computers will be able to solve many complex math problems more efficiently than standard computers, making it easier to crack the encryption codes that currently protect our data.

• The U.S. State Department formally rescinded Syria’s designation as a State Sponsor of Terrorism on Monday and delisted Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist organization. The moves mark the final step in normalization of relations with Syria, Risk Journal reports.