Trump announces 25% tariff on Iran's trading partners
January 12, 2026
US President Donald Trump on Monday announced countries doing business with Iran will face a 25% tariff on "any and all business being done with the United States of America."
"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. This Order is final and conclusive," Trump wrote on his social media platform.
China, UAE, Brazil, Turkey and Russia are among economies that do business with Tehran. But there's no clarity on whether the announcement affects all business partners or some of them.
Why is Trump targeting Iran's trade partners?
The US president's announcement comes as reports emerge about Iranians killed in a brutal crackdown by security forces.
Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has taken a hard line against protesters, saying last week that demonstrators were "ruining their own streets to make the president of another country happy," referring to Trump.
Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson earlier Monday said that a channel of communication "remains open" between Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff.
Trump mulls response to Iran protest crackdown
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Monday that Trump was considering a wide range of options, including air strikes, but that his first choice was diplomacy.
Protests have widened in Iran, with demonstraters calling for an end to the ruling clergy of the Islamic Republic that was established nearly five decades ago.
Those protests have turned deadly as reports emerge about a violent crackdown by security forces, with Iran Human Rights, an NGO based in Norway, having said it recorded at least 648 deaths so far since anti-government protests began.
Verifying reports and videos emerging out of the country has grown increasingly difficult from abroad since the country has also had no internet for 100 hours now, according to watchdog NetBlocks.
Edited by: Rana Taha