Countries that need to be worried about 25% US tariffs on Iranian trades

A member of the OPEC oil producers group, Iran exported products to 147 trading partners in 2022, according to the most recent data from the World Bank.

Fuel is Iran’s biggest export item by value, while major imports include intermediate goods, vegetables, machinery and equipment.

Following countries can face the heat from US for their business relationships with Iran…

China

China is Iran’s largest trading partner. Iranian exports to China amounted to US$22 billion in 2022, with fuels accounting for more than half of the total, according to the World Bank. Imports from China stood at US$15 billion.

In 2025, China bought more than 80 per cent of Iran’s shipped oil, according to data from Kpler, an analytics firm. Iranian oil has a limited pool of buyers because of US sanctions that seek to cut off funding to Tehran’s nuclear programme.

Turkey

Turkish exports to Iran were US$2.3 billion in full-year 2025, while imports were $2.2 billion over 11 months of the year, according to sector and official data sources.

India

India’s total bilateral trade with Iran stood at US$1.34 billion for the first 10 months of 2025, according to India’s commerce ministry. Major Indian exports to Iran include basmati rice, fruits, vegetables, drugs and other pharmaceutical products.

Germany

Iran’s exports to Germany stood at around EUR217 million (US$252.7 million) in the first eleven months of 2025, an increase of 1.7 per cent, according to data from the state-owned international economic promotion agency Germany Trade & Invest. German exports to Iran fell by a quarter to EUR871 million (US$1.01 billion) over the period.

South Korea

South Korea’s exports to Iran between January and November 2025 were marginal at US$129 million, while imports stood at US$1.6 million during the same period, according to data from the Korea International Trade Association.

Japan

Japan imported modest amounts of fruit, vegetables and textiles from Iran and shipped some machinery and vehicle engines there, according to the latest trade data from Japan that goes through November 2025.