Trump announced that the 25% tariff on Iranian business partners would take effect immediately

US President Trump announced that any country that has business dealings with Iran will be subject to a 25% tariff when conducting any business transactions with the United States.

AFP reported that Trump said in a post on the Social media platform Truth Social on Monday afternoon (January 12th) that this was a "final" decision and would take effect "immediately".

Trump did not elaborate on this decision in the post. The White House has not yet released an official document on this matter.

As the United States has long imposed severe sanctions on Iran, the two sides have no commercial exchanges or formal diplomatic relations. Therefore, the United States is unable to directly and effectively pressure Iran through tariff measures.

White House Press Secretary Levitt said earlier that day that in the face of the current situation in Iran, Trump believes diplomacy is the "preferred" option, but if he deems it necessary, "he will not hesitate to use the US military," adding that "air strikes are just one of many options."

However, Levitt also said that Iran maintains diplomatic communication channels with Trump's Middle East envoy, Witkov, and pointed out that Iran's private tone is "completely different" from its public statements.

The Wall Street Journal previously reported that Trump will meet with senior advisers on the 13th to listen to a report on the Iran plan, which includes military strikes, the use of secret cyber weapons, expanding the scope of sanctions, and providing cyber assistance to anti-government forces.