The U.S. just sanctioned Chinese companies trading Iranian oil last week.
This week, the Treasury Secretary asked China to help the U.S. reopen the most important shipping lane in the world.
Scott Bessent told Fox News on Monday that the U.S. wants China and U.S. allies to join "Project Freedom," the operation Trump announced Sunday to guide ships stuck in the Strait of Hormuz back out.
Bessent also accused China of bankrolling Iran by buying about 90% of Iran's energy exports. He called that "funding the largest state sponsor of terrorism."
In the same interview, he said the U.S. has "absolute control" of the strait and Iran does not. The pitch carries a tension. The U.S. is in control, but it still wants help.
About 20% of the world's oil moves through the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has blocked since the latest round of attacks. Anything that opens or closes that lane moves global oil prices fast.
Bessent's call for help comes just one week after the U.S. hit Chinese companies tied to the Iran oil trade with new sanctions.
China's response was blunt. The country said it does not recognize U.S. authority over deals it is not part of, and it will defend its own companies.
The Trump-Xi summit on May 14 and 15 in Beijing is now the spot where this gets sorted out, with energy and Iran near the top of the agenda.
Bessent told Fox News the relationship between the two leaders has had "great stability" and that the summit will let them work through differences in person.
Oil markets have been on edge for weeks as the standoff has dragged on, with prices swinging on every headline.
If Beijing leans on Iran behind the scenes, the strait could reopen and oil prices would likely fall. That would also pull pressure off airlines, shippers, and any business with energy in its cost stack.
If China sits this one out, the U.S. may end up running the operation alone. That comes with all the risk and cost of a one-country mission, and oil prices could stay high for longer.
For investors, the next two weeks come down to what happens at the summit table. And what happens to oil prices in between.
China and Russia have already vetoed United Nations efforts to formally call out Iran's blockade, with Beijing saying the draft was one-sided.
Watch for any softening of that position from China ahead of the May 14 summit. A behind-the-scenes signal of cooperation would matter more than a public statement.
Also watch for the size of any allied buy-in. If only one or two U.S. partners join Project Freedom, the operation looks more like a U.S. solo effort than the international coalition Bessent described on Monday.
The strait has reopened from past closures within weeks, but never under exactly these conditions.
