When asked if the United States could target China for doing business with Iran, Bessent said many conversations were best to have in private.
"Keep in mind that the Chinese get 50% (of their) energy from inside from the Gulf. So it would do them a big service to get with the program," he said.
China buys more than 80% of Iran's shipped oil, according to 2025 data from analytics firm Kpler, but engaging in further economic warfare with China, a major exporter to the U.S. including vital rare-earth minerals, risks retaliation against Washington.
In a social media message on Wednesday, Trump promised "Economic Warfare and Isolation on an unprecedented scale," although details were scant.
Iran has weathered near-continuous, punishing economic sanctions for nearly 50 years, since the Islamic Revolution of 1979.
"ANY country that allows its financial institutions, businesses, airports, or government entities to provide any type of lifeline to Iran will itself face TREMENDOUS Economic Consequences," Trump wrote.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi called Trump's comments an attempt to divert American public opinion from domestic financial problems, including record debt and rising interest rates.
He said Washington's insistence on policies he described as failed would bring further failures and alienate Iranians.
"America's economic terrorism threatens the global economy and the national sovereignty of countries around the world," he said on X.
Trump has yet to achieve the objectives he set out at the start of the war: dismantling Iran's nuclear programme, curbing its ability to attack regional rivals and creating conditions for Iranians to overthrow their clerical rulers.
Trump's social media threats and announcements do not always get implemented as written. He did not say what specific steps the U.S. would take or name any country, though the warning would appear to extend to U.S. allies that have helped mediate peace talks.
Iran has separately been negotiating an agreement on managing the Strait of Hormuz with Oman and has said several times in recent weeks that an agreement was close.
Trump responded on Monday to those negotiations with a threat, warning he might bomb the Gulf state, a longstanding U.S. security partner, if it "gets in the way".
Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi, speaking after meeting his Japanese counterpart, said on Thursday that lasting security in the strait required a permanent peace in the region and rejected further escalation.
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