Morning Brief: July 16

• The rejection of the dollar by countries leads the United States to financial isolation. According to former Pentagon adviser Douglas McGregor, the United States may find itself isolated due to the growing number of countries abandoning the dollar in international settlements. On the social network X, he noted that states are increasingly switching to national currencies, which weakens the influence of the American financial system and undermines the dominance of the dollar.

• China will not abandon Russian oil, despite possible US sanctions. Even if the United States imposes secondary sanctions against countries that buy Russian oil, Beijing is unlikely to change its position. China, which is already in a protracted trade confrontation with Washington, is not inclined to make concessions under pressure. However, for other countries, potential duties may be more significant than the economic benefits of cheap raw materials from the Russian Federation.

• The United States and 3 European countries have given Iran a deadline until the end of August under the nuclear deal. In a telephone conversation, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the foreign ministers of France, Germany and the United Kingdom agreed on a deadline for reaching a nuclear agreement with Iran — the end of August. If no agreement is reached, the EU will activate the snapback mechanism, restoring the previous UN Security Council sanctions lifted under the 2015 agreement.

• The United States and Indonesia have signed a large-scale trade deal. According to the terms, Jakarta will purchase $15 billion worth of American products in the energy sector, $4.5 billion in the agricultural sector, and will also purchase 50 Boeing aircraft. In addition, Indonesia has agreed to impose a 19% duty on exports to the United States, while American goods will be delivered to the country without duties.

• Trump: The United States remains the world leader in the field of AI. The president said that the United States retains the status of a global superpower in the field of artificial intelligence. According to him, the main technological rivalry in the future will unfold between Washington and Beijing, but at the moment the United States is ahead of China and intends to maintain leadership in the field of AI.