United States President Donald Trump says any country doing business with Iran would face a tariff rate of 25 per cent on any trade with the U.S.
Trump’s threat is coming as Washington weighs a response to the situation in Iran which is seeing its biggest anti-government protests in years.
“Effective immediately, any Country doing business with the Islamic Republic of Iran will pay a Tariff of 25 per cent on any and all business being done with the United States of America,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Monday, January 12, 2026.
Tariffs are paid by U.S. importers of goods from those countries.
Iran, a member of the OPEC oil producing group, has been heavily sanctioned by Washington for years.
It exports much of its oil to China, with Turkey, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, and India among its other top trading partners.
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“This Order is final and conclusive,” Trump said without providing any further detail.
There was no official documentation from the White House of the policy on its website, nor information about the legal authority Trump would use to impose the tariffs, or whether they would be aimed at all of Iran’s trading partners.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
The Chinese embassy in Washington criticised Trump’s approach, saying China will take “all necessary measures” to safeguard its interests and opposed “any illicit unilateral sanctions and long-arm jurisdiction.”
“China’s position against the indiscriminate imposition of tariffs is consistent and clear.
”Tariff wars and trade wars have no winners. Coercion and pressure cannot solve problems,” a spokesperson of the Chinese embassy in Washington said on X.
Japan and South Korea, which agreed on trade deals with the U.S. last year, told Reuters on Tuesday they are closely monitoring the development.
Iran exported products to 147 trading partners in 2022, according to World Bank’s most recent data.
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