Mr. Trump imposed a 50% tax on countries supplying weapons to Iran

On the social network Truth Social on April 8, US President Donald Trump said he would impose a 50% import tax on any country that supplies weapons to Iran. The tax “takes effect immediately” and has “no exceptions or exemptions,” he wrote.

Details of the tariffs have not been announced by the White House.

This announcement was made just one day after US President Donald Trump announced his agreement to a two-week ceasefire with Iran, on the condition that Tehran reopens the Strait of Hormuz. Iran’s Supreme National Security Council also said it approved the ceasefire. Iranian state media said negotiations with the US were held in Pakistan on April 10.

The ceasefire was issued less than two hours before the ultimatum that the US President set with Iran expired. According to the ultimatum, the Gulf nation must reach an agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz before 8:00 p.m. Eastern time (7:00 a.m. Hanoi time on April 8) if it does not want civil infrastructure to be destroyed.

Previously, in January, Mr. Trump also wrote on Truth Social that he would impose a 25% tax on any country trading with Iran. Tensions between Washington and Tehran escalated at that time, but hostilities had not yet broken out.

A month later, he signed an executive order allowing the US to impose taxes on Iran’s trading partners, while the two countries’ delegations were negotiating in Oman. The document empowers the Secretary of State and Secretary of Commerce to jointly determine whether any country meets the criteria. Once concluded, they are allowed to coordinate with the Office of the Trade Representative and the US Department of Homeland Security to decide on the appropriate “level of tariffs”.

Fighting in the Middle East has lasted more than a month, disrupting global oil and LNG flows when the Strait of Hormuz was blocked and energy infrastructure in the region was attacked. There are currently about 1,000 ships stuck in the Gulf.

Global prices of crude oil, jet fuel, diesel and gasoline have therefore skyrocketed in recent times. Crude oil used to be close to 120 USD a barrel early last month, but is now below 100 USD.