How will Trump’s new 25% tariff impact Iran’s trading partners?
US president threatens a 25 percent tariff on countries that do business with Iran as he piles pressure on Tehran.

US president threatens a 25 percent tariff on countries that do business with Iran as he piles pressure on Tehran.



![U.S. President Donald Trump holds a press conference following a U.S. strike on Venezuela where President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were captured, from Trump's Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, U.S., January 3, 2026. [Jonathan Ernst/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/2026-01-03T165300Z_824548544_RC2STIA7D0LY_RTRMADP_3_USA-VENEZUELA_cropped-1767460525.jpg?resize=770%2C513&quality=80)

![A screenshot from a US Department of Defense video purporting to show the seizure of a fifth sanctioned oil tanker, the Olina, in the Caribbean Sea on Jan. 9, 2026. [US Department of Defense/AP]](/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/image-1767982895.jpg?resize=770%2C513&quality=80)

![Analysts argue that oil companies might not benefit from the investments amid the economic and geopolitical uncertainties [Norlys Perez/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/2026-01-08T182735Z_347846966_RC2CWIAQD9A6_RTRMADP_3_USA-VENEZUELA-CUBA-FUEL-1-1767907173.jpg?resize=770%2C513&quality=80)

Venezuela’s interior minister says US operation to abduct Maduro killed 100 people and wounded dozens.
Venezuela has the largest oil reserves, the ninth-largest natural gas reserves, and vast untapped minerals such as gold.
US says it will control Venezuelan oil sales ‘indefinitely’, raising questions about what revenues Caracas might get.
Trump administration announcement comes as UN experts warn Venezuela’s oil reserves ‘must not be cynically exploited’.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt warned the US will ‘crush illicit activity’ after seizing two oil tankers.

US officials say they’ve taken control of two oil tankers linked to Venezuela in the Atlantic and the Caribbean.
White House says President Donald Trump still wants to buy Greenland, but has said military means are an option, too.
Trump and Rubio say they want to use the oil to help Venezuelans. That’s not what the US track record shows.

Video released by Russian state media is said to show a US coast guard vessel shadowing a Russian-flagged oil tanker.