Earlier today, the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control added 10 Chinese and Russian firms to its North Korea Sanctions List.

In response, China called on the US to Immediately Fix the Sanctions ‘Mistake’.

The United States should “immediately correct its mistake” of imposing unilateral sanctions on Chinese companies and individuals to avoid damaging bilateral cooperation, a Chinese embassy spokesman said on Tuesday.

“China opposes unilateral sanctions out of the U.N. Security Council framework, especially the ‘long-arm jurisdiction’ over Chinese entities and individuals exercised by any country in accordance with its domestic laws,” the embassy spokesman said.

“We strongly urge the U.S. to immediately correct its mistake, so as not to impact bilateral cooperation on relevant issues.”

Retaliation Threats

On July 26, Bloomberg reported Russia Warns of ‘Painful’ Response If Trump Backs U.S. Sanctions.

On July 30, Reuters reported Russian Official Threatens Retaliation Over U.S. Sanctions.

Speaking on ABC’s “This Week,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov referred to a bill passed by Congress on Thursday to sanction his country as “weird and unacceptable,” and said it was “the last straw.”

“If the U.S. side decides to move further towards… deterioration, we will answer. We will respond in kind. We will … retaliate,” he said.

Ryabkov’s comments came after Moscow ordered the United States on Friday to cut hundreds of diplomatic staff and said it would seize two U.S. diplomatic properties as a response to the new sanctions that were approved nearly unanimously by both the House of Representatives and the Senate.

“We have a very rich toolbox at our disposal,” he said. “It would be ridiculous on my part to start speculating on what may or may not happen. We are not gamblers. We are people who consider things very seriously and very responsibly. But I can assure you that different options are on the table and consideration is being given to all sorts of things.”

How Trade Wars Start

I have commented many times this is precisely how trade wars start. And when it comes to sanctions and retaliations, Russia hold a very important card: uranium.

There is plenty of raw uranium in the world. The problem for the US is there is not plenty of refined uranium.

For further discussion, please consider Foolish Russia Sanctions: How Might Russia Strike Back? How About Uranium?

Protectionist trade war tinderbox in search of a match: EU, Russia, Brexit, Chinese Steel, Nord Stream, Trump https://t.co/DMQzgf3nji

— Mike Mish Shedlock (@MishGEA) July 26, 2017

Even without the uranium angle, sanctions and trade wars are economic folly.

Mike “Mish” Shedlock