WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said the United States will impose a 25% tariff on “any and all” trade with any country that does business with Iran, a blunt threat delivered via social media that could reverberate across major U.S. trading relationships, Jan. 12, 2026.
The Trump Iran tariff announcement is intended to tighten pressure on Tehran as Iran faces its biggest anti-government protests in years and Washington weighs additional options, according to a Reuters report on the president’s post.
Trump Iran tariff targets Iran’s trading partners, not just Tehran
Trump wrote that the tariff would apply “effective immediately” to any country doing business with the Islamic Republic, but the White House did not publish an accompanying order or legal rationale on its website. The lack of detail left basic questions unanswered, including whether the 25% rate would stack on top of existing duties and how U.S. Customs would define “doing business” with Iran.
Because tariffs are paid by U.S. importers at the border, the costs would initially fall on American buyers and could be passed along to consumers, economists and trade lawyers often note. Still, the structure of the Trump Iran tariff threat is designed to force foreign governments and companies to choose between the U.S. market and commercial ties with Tehran.
Iran’s largest trade relationships are concentrated in a handful of countries that could be swept into the policy’s blast radius. A separate Reuters breakdown of Iran’s top trading partners pointed to China as Iran’s biggest customer, alongside other significant links including Turkey, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, India and Germany.
China rejects Trump Iran tariff pressure and warns of retaliation
China’s embassy in Washington criticized the move and said it would take “all necessary measures” to protect its interests, calling the approach unilateral and warning that “tariff wars and trade wars have no winners,” as reported by Reuters. Beijing has long argued its commerce with Iran is legitimate and opposes what it calls “long-arm jurisdiction” by the United States.
Energy is at the center of that dispute. China is estimated to buy more than 80% of Iran’s shipped oil, and much of that crude is purchased by smaller independent refiners attracted by discounted barrels, according to a Reuters explainer on China’s reliance on Iranian oil. Any broad enforcement of the Trump Iran tariff could therefore collide with the opaque supply chains that have helped Iranian oil keep flowing despite years of U.S. sanctions.
Trump Iran tariff revives an old playbook with higher economic stakes
The tariff threat echoes Trump’s first-term “maximum pressure” approach, when the U.S. exited the 2015 nuclear deal and moved to reimpose sanctions on Iran, as outlined in a 2018 White House statement on ending U.S. participation in the JCPOA. The State Department later framed that effort as an economic campaign meant to drive Iran’s oil exports toward zero in its maximum pressure overview.
In practice, the U.S. has repeatedly used secondary sanctions and waivers to influence how much Iranian oil key countries could buy, including during the 2018 reimposition period described in a Reuters analysis from Trump’s first term.
What is different now is the instrument: a sweeping tariff threat tied to Iran trade rather than targeted sanctions on specific firms, ships or banks. Whether the Trump Iran tariff becomes a durable policy — or a negotiating cudgel — may hinge on forthcoming legal documentation, enforcement guidance and the willingness of major partners to test the White House’s red line. For now, the administration’s stance, and foreign governments’ responses, remain in motion, according to PBS NewsHour’s reporting on the announcement.
