Trump puts Venezuelan oil importers in tariff crosshairs
Welcome back to White House Watch. I’m Emily Goldberg, the FT’s US newsletter editor. In today’s edition we’re covering:
Businesses and investors hoping for clarity on Donald Trump’s tariff plans are waiting on tenterhooks for the US president’s “liberation day” next week, when his administration is set to unveil its new tariff regime.
He is considering a two-step approach, deploying rarely used powers to impose emergency duties while investigations into trading partners are completed. The strategy aims to ground the president’s “reciprocal” tariffs in a stronger legal framework, people familiar with the matter say.
But Trump yesterday introduced another variable when he announced that the US would impose a 25 per cent levy on all imports from any country that buys oil from Venezuela.
Trump said that the new 25 per cent tariff, to be applied on April 2, will come on top of existing levies. So for China, one of the top importers of Venezuelan oil, that amounts to a 45 per cent tariff.
The US itself imported about 230,000 b/d from Venezuela in 2024, making the South American nation its fourth-biggest supplier last year. And Trump’s escalation comes just days after Caracas made a concession to the US president, agreeing to receive planeloads of deported migrants from the US.
The move risks an increase in oil prices, which, as Matt Smith, lead oil analyst at Kpler, told the Financial Times, “is the opposite of President Trump’s goals”. . . . Register for the FT to keep reading the newsletter for free.
City & Guilds NVQ3 at Liverpool Community College
1wDonald Trump's tariff regime will be answered by the revolution that has started in the UK. Have a look at this for a change in direction- they will take back their business and property restitutionparty.com
MSc. Erneuerbare Energien. Electronics Engineer.
2was a Venezuelan I can say, oil will still be sold by ships in the blackmarket offshore. so money laundering will still be happening, this is how Cuba made money all these years with Venezuelan oil.
Information Systems Manager- Technical Manager-IT Consultant (MIS) Specialized Degree Programs
2wIs this the best way for Trump to put tariffs inside a loaf of bread?
Programme officer, PhD in Sociology
2wEven if I appreciate the American attitude ‘everyone can achieve anything’ I think that when it comes to politics ethics and mental stability should be checked before any candidacy occurs. If they had, we wouldn’t have had Trump. Even a democracy must have its limits.
Retired at Retired
2wWhat fun it is to watch the Trump movement. To wake up each day wondering what new chaos has happened overnight. Just like his last presidency only more entertaining.