Good morning. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the U.S. is launching a new campaign to isolate the Iranian regime, warning that countries and companies that do business with Tehran will face the wrath of the Trump administration.

'Economic Outcast': As part of the new effort, which he called "Operation Economic Outcast," Bessent said his department has "mapped every node, every facilitator and every network that Iran has used to smuggle oil and evade sanctions." He said the U.S. was sanctioning 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.

No timeline: Bessent didn't outline any specific steps the U.S. would take against individual countries-including China, a major buyer of Iran's oil. He said the U.S. privately defined timelines for countries to comply, but then told reporters: "I'm not going to set timelines, but we do not have infinite patience here."

Deep dive: Risk Journal dove into the plan and some early feedback, including from Beijing, which said secondary sanctions won't work. A full transcript of Bessent's remarks is available here (free links).

Also read:

U.S. Squeezes Iran But Avoids Targeting Its Biggest Lifeline: China

The Warnings That Came Before a War Now Reaching the Six-Month Mark

Compliance

EV-maker Polestar says Trump administration strung it along before U.S. ban.

Two months after Chinese-owned electric-vehicle maker Polestar was forced to exit the U.S. market, the company is telling its American dealers that it was blindsided by the decision.

Polestar said in an Aug. 18 letter to dealers, seen by The Wall Street Journal, that it still doesn't have an explanation for why it must cease U.S. sales while Volvo Cars-a corporate cousin that sells a nearly identical car-was allowed to remain.

The Trump administration is implementing a new rule aimed at preventing China from spying on Americans via connected-vehicle technology. Polestar is the first automaker to be effectively blocked from the U.S. under the rule, which originated during the Biden administration.

Government proposes new six-figure fee for H1-B visas.

The Trump administration is proposing a new six-figure fee for H-1B visas that would apply to most new applicants, not just those applying from abroad, replacing an earlier plan to charge $100,000 for the visa that was struck down by the courts.

The Department of Homeland Security said in a filing on Monday that it plans to attach a $103,265 fee to new H-1B visa filings, which must be paid before the government decides whether to approve an application. The public will be given a 30-day period to submit comments on the proposal before it can take effect.

The H-1B is a visa for high-skill foreign professionals that serves as the primary pathway for foreigners to work in the U.S. It has become a lightning rod on the right, as supporters of President Trump have alleged that employers use the visa to hire foreigners on lower salaries than similarly qualified Americans could expect to earn. The H-1B is disproportionately used to hire skilled tech workers from India.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta's office canceled a planned Monday meeting with Paramount Chief Executive David Ellison where the parties were expected to discuss settling a lawsuit the state led seeking to block the company's purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery.

The Federal Trade Commission reached a settlement with Zillow and Redfin, resolving an earlier claim that the companies worked together to reduce competition in the marketplace.

A local business group sued New York City and Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Monday over the mayor's plan to open five government-owned grocery stores around the city. The Multicultural Business Coalition, a nonprofit, argued that the plan would introduce unfair competition to a struggling local industry already dealing with slim profit margins.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is expanding its investigation into GM's electronic braking system after receiving several complaints.

An independent arbitrator has ordered the Washington Post to reinstate Karen Attiah, finding the newspaper wrongly terminated the columnist over comments she made following the shooting death of Charlie Kirk.

The number of people charged in Taiwan with aiding the shipment of advanced artificial-intelligence servers to China. Taiwan is trying to limit technology reaching the mainland.

Risk

U.S. says oil is pouring through Hormuz. Trackers can't find it.

The Trump administration says large volumes of oil are slipping through the Strait of Hormuz. The trackers whose job it is to count the world's oil shipments see much less.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright said last week the U.S. military had helped ship over 15 million barrels of crude and oil products out of the waterway last Tuesday. He put the average oil exports through the strait over a seven-day period at more than 8 million barrels a day. Earlier this month, Wright said the seven-day average stood at around 9 million barrels a day.

The count from commercial ship trackers tells a different story, with estimates ranging from roughly 2 million to 6 million barrels a day. Industry figures on the amount of crude oil and oil products being loaded onto ships in the Persian Gulf and delivered to buyers don't corroborate the U.S. claims.

President Trump said the U.S. would impose 50% tariffs on Canadian automobiles, trucks, automotive parts and steel starting in January.

The U.K. and France are sending classified technology to Kyiv to allow it to manufacture an Anglo-French cruise missile, part of a growing trend of Western countries helping Ukraine to build the weapons it needs to fight Russia's invasion.

The U.S. has scrapped a large-scale amphibious exercise with South Korea set for next month, the latest American pullback in Asia in the wake of the war in Iran.

Webinar

President Trump has threatened a "D-Day" level economic campaign against Iran in response to its continued attacks on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and its resistance to U.S. demands. A two-part webinar will examine the geopolitical implications of these latest developments in the economic campaign against Iran, how enforcement might take shape and the risk and compliance challenges for companies. Audience members will have the chance to question both Dow Jones and external analysts. Register here.

What Else Matters

Members of the United Auto Workers voted down an offer from Deere to extend its contract with the union by two years, setting up what will likely be a contentious negotiation for a new contract next year.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's mission to tame the bond market could get help from another Trump administration push: crypto legislation, Telis Demos writes in a column.

In a cutthroat white-collar talent market, where AI looms as a job-security threat, some recruiters are encouraging job seekers to get ahead by emphasizing decidedly human qualities like a canasta addiction or a weakness for pickling vegetables.

About Us

Follow us on LinkedIn. Send tips to our reporters Max Fillion at max.fillion@dowjones.com, Clara Hudson at clara.hudson@wsj.com, Yusuf Khan at yusuf.khan@wsj.com and Richard Vanderford at richard.vanderford@wsj.com.

You can also reach us by replying to any newsletter, or by emailing our editors Perry Cleveland-Peck at perry.cleveland-peck@wsj.com and David Smagalla at david.smagalla@wsj.com.

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