Countries doing business with Iran face 25 percent tariff on U.S. trade

President Trump posts online as U.S. weighs response to situation in Iran, which is major facing anti-government protests

Donald Trump has said any country that does business with Iran will face a tariff rate of 25 percent on trade with the U.S., as Washington DC weighs a response to the situation in Iran, which is seeing its biggest anti-government protests in years.

Tariffs are paid by U.S. importers of goods from those countries. Iran has been heavily sanctioned by Washington DC for years.

“Effective immediately, any country doing business with the Islamic Republic of Iran will pay a tariff of 25 percent on any and all business being done with the United States of America,” the U.S. president said in a post on Truth Social.

“This order is final and conclusive,” Trump said without providing further detail.

Top export destinations for Iranian goods include China, the United Arab Emirates and India.

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.

Iran, which had a 12-day war with Israel last year and whose nuclear facilities the U.S. military bombed in June, is seeing its biggest anti-government demonstrations in years. 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 it was keeping communication channels with Washington DC open as Trump considered how to respond to the situation in Iran.

Tens of thousands of pro-government demonstrators took to the streets of Tehran in a state-organized rally intended to show support for the regime. With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. However, the Associated Press reported mobile phones in Iran were able to make international calls.

The demonstrations have evolved from complaints about dire economic hardships to defiant calls for the fall of the deeply entrenched clerical establishment. The Iranian regime has responded with a harsh crackdown including mass arrests, internet blackouts and public warnings that participation in the demonstrations could carry the death penalty.

While his second term in office, 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 DC.

Iran, a member of the OPEC oil producers group, exported products to 147 trading partners in 2022, according to World Bank’s most recent data.