U.S. President Says Nations Doing Business With Iran Face 25% Tariff on U.S. Trade

Reuters

U.S. President Donald Trump looks on as he signs executive orders and proclamations in the Oval Office at the White House, in Washington, D.C., U.S., 5 May 2025.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday any country that does business with Iran will face a tariff rate of 25% on any trade with the U.S., 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% on any and all business being done with the United States of America," President Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

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 Türkiye, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates and India among its other top trading partners.

"This Order is final and conclusive," President Trump said without providing any further detail.

The Chinese embassy in Washington criticised President 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, and coercion and pressure cannot solve problems," a spokesperson of the Chinese embassy in Washington said on X.

Japan’s Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Masanao Ozaki told reporters that Tokyo will "carefully examine the specific content of any measures as they become clear, as well as their potential impact on Japan, and will respond appropriately."

Iran, which had a 12-day war with U.S. ally Israel last year and whose nuclear facilities the U.S. military bombed in June, is seeing its biggest anti-government demonstrations in years.

President Trump has said the U.S. may meet Iranian officials and that he was in contact with Iran's opposition, while piling pressure on its leaders, including threatening military action.

Tehran said on Monday that it was keeping communication channels with Washington open as President Donald Trump considered how to respond to the situation in Iran, which has presented one of the most serious challenges to clerical rule since the Islamic Revolution of 1979.

Demonstrations evolved from complaints about dire economic hardships to defiant calls for the fall of the deeply entrenched clerical establishment. U.S.-based rights group HRANA said it had verified the deaths of 599 people - 510 protesters and 89 security personnel - since the protests began on 28 December 2025.

While air strikes were one of many alternatives open to President Trump, "diplomacy is always the first option for the president," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Monday.

During the course of his second term in office, President Trump has often threatened and imposed tariffs on other countries over their ties with U.S. adversaries and over trade policies that he has described as unfair to Washington.

Iran exported products to 147 trading partners in 2022, according to World Bank's most recent data.




PUKMEDIA