Trump signs executive order threatening tariffs for countries trading with Iran

[Twiglets1]

US President Donald Trump has said he could impose additional tariffs on countries that continue to trade with Iran, in an executive order signed on Friday.

The order does not specify the rate that could be imposed, but uses 25% as an example, and says it will apply to goods imported into the US from any nation that "directly or indirectly purchases, imports, or otherwise acquires any goods or services from Iran".

Trump has not directly commented on the order, but reiterated "no nuclear weapons" for Iran when speaking from Air Force One on Friday night.

The White House said that this latest executive order reaffirmed the "ongoing national emergency with respect to Iran", and noted that the president may modify it of circumstances change.

It read: "The President is holding Iran accountable for its pursuit of nuclear capabilities, support for terrorism, ballistic missile development, and regional destabilization that endanger American security, allies, and interests."

www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4glgz2l83vo

Al Jazeera note that fuel is Iran’s biggest export item by value while major imports include intermediate goods, vegetables, machinery and equipment.

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

Who are Iran's biggest trading partners?

China dominates Iran’s trade in both directions, emerging as its largest source of imports and top export destination in 2024, with Turkiye as the second largest.

In 3rd, 4th and 5th position for exports are Pakistan, India and Azerbaijan.

In 3rd, 4th and 5th position for imports are Brazil, Germany and India.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/1/13/trump-announces-new-25-tariff-how-will-it-impact-irans-trading-partners

I'm not generally a fan of Trump's tariff madness (partly because he is so erratic about it) but Iran needs isolating quickly.

I agree.

And maybe with the US/Iran talks currently going ahead, Trump will decide on no military action against the Iran regime (if the talks go his way).

In which case, economic sanctions are an alternative way he could help to bring the regime to its knees.

Negotiations will be key - or it will be brutal force.

Not sure if tariffs will work
For example- China is Iran’s biggest oil importer. The U.S. already has a 30% tariff for Chinese goods. Not sure US are going to risk threatening to increase tariffs for Chinese goods to over 50% again? China didn’t bow down before.

This is the problem, Trump backtracks!

But it also hurts ordinary Americans- after all- it’s actually a tax on them.
The legality of Trump’s tariffs has also been considered and we are due an announcement on them soon.

I think new tariffs would be a disincentive for countries like Germany (though they don't trade much with Iran of course compared to China & Turkey).

No idea what effect it would have on China or Turkey, countries that normally support Iran.

You can see how China has stood firm previously and US has repeatedly backed down.

https://www.piie.com/research/piie-charts/2019/us-china-trade-war-tariffs-date-chart

It’s going to take negotiations with Iran. It’s such a shame that the regime can’t be toppled but they are there due to prior Western interference.

I am not sure the U.S. electorate wants another war either.

I’m sure no one wants another war.

But equally many in the US & other countries are against the Iranian regime and don’t think they can be allowed to continue behaving as they have been doing.

No - there’s no doubt about that

Iran seem pretty determined to go on enriching uranium- but they are saying not to weapon grade.

Not sure tariffs on their trading partners- if they go ahead- will stop them.

No one believes a word they say. Or I should say, few people do.

What will it take to stop them? Are we back to the spectre of war?

I understand that a nuclear power plant is important for Iran and they are not going to back down from this. Of course, this may lead onto further enrichment for nuclear war heads but if they allow in inspectors again, it may help.

Trump dismissed Obama’s 2015 nuclear deal with Iran but it that may be the best he’s going to get.

There were independent international inspectors going in before US and Israel bombed Iran, and Iran allowed quite a lot of access until Trump began further economic sanctions on Iran.

Back to square one?

An economically successful Iran which is less isolated may actually be a safer one?

Iran didn’t allow enough access. The suspicion is that they had/have something to hide. They are in a weaker position now and won’t be allowed to do what they want to do which is develop the capability to use nuclear weapons against another country.

Their hostility to Israel has been too obvious to be overlooked.

Everyone was aware of their hostility towards Israel. Why do you think Obama was so keen to control their nuclear capabilities?

We don’t know what exact impact the bombing of Iran has had on their current nuclear capabilities but I have read that they have not only resumed but are likely to have altered their set up, to take into account prospect of future bombing ie they may be more dispersed.

Prior to 2018 the inspections were much more significant:

The JCPOA was implemented January 16, 2016 after the IAEA reported that Iran had made the necessary changes to its nuclear program and granted the IAEA the access necessary to verify the agreement. In exchange, the United States and other world powers agreed to waive nuclear-related sanctions.

In 2018, the United States unilaterally withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal. Despite periodic attempts to revive the deal since then, Iranaccelerated its uranium enrichment, limited inspector access to its nuclear facilities and is now closer to developing a nuclear weapon than before the deal. The demise of the JCPOA brought uncertainty both for the future of nuclear negotiation with Iran and the international community who now lack insight into potential developments in Iran’s nuclear program.

https://armscontrolcenter.org/the-iran-deal-then-and-now/

US and Israel bombing of Iran has probably increased Iran’s own desire for protection.

Obama was on the ball in his negotiations with Iran.

It wouldn’t exactly be a surprise if Obama was more on the ball with negotiations with Iran than Trump.

The Gaza war did change things too though I prefer not to get into discussing that much on this thread.

He was much more considered.
So to your original post about tariffs and more economical isolation of Iran. Probably not going to help?

Anything that makes the people of Iran more likely to revolt is helpful to eventually overthrowing this awful regime even if it doesn't happen immediately.

Economic hardship makes internal revolt more likely. If you're saying that you don't agree with the US getting involved militarily (which I'm not sure I do either, it's a hard thing to know what's right), that only leaves soft options of things like economic sanctions to contribute indirectly to the uprising of Iran's own people.

History has shown negotiations have worked best and the offer for Iran to more involved in world trade.

I don’t think US will increase tariffs on China to over 30% and China is Iran’s biggest trading partner.

I dont think tariffs are going to make much difference to average Iranians. They already live in hardship and have already tried to revolt.

Some commentators have said that regime change with war is going to be protracted and will really destabilise the region, including threaten Israel.

I think Trump also realises this - so efforts being made to actually sit down and talk to the Iranian negotiators.

Well let’s see … hope for a good outcome but not hearing many positives yet (it’s early days I guess).

No - it’s not going well. U.S. is also asking Iran to make restrictions on its missiles program. That’s unlikely to happen too.