Will Trump’s Tariffs on Venezuelan Oil Matter?
After setting April 2 as the day that tariffs on most global goods will go into effect, the White House appears to be walking back its plans. Levies on products like lumber, automobiles, and semiconductors may not be enacted until an unspecified later date, reports The Wall Street Journal. Other unspecified countries may be exempt entirely, President Donald Trump told reporters on Monday.
One that won’t be exempt from the Trump trade war, at least for now, is Venezuela. On Monday, the president signed an executive order imposing retaliatory tariffs on Venezuela for the government’s alleged aiding and abetting of the Tren de Aragua gang. Beginning April 2, any goods imported to the United States from a country that directly or indirectly imports Venezuelan oil may be subject to a 25 percent tariff. The order authorizes the secretary of state to impose the levy, which will expire a year “after the last date on which the country imported Venezuelan oil,” at his discretion.
Venezuela is the world’s 20th-largest producer of crude oil and plays an important role in providing petroleum products to several countries, including Spain, India, and Russia. The U.S., too, relies on Venezuelan oil imports, bringing in an average of 232,000 barrels of crude oil and petroleum products per day from the country in 2024. (This is about 3 percent of total daily crude imports to America.)
While these tariffs could impact the energy supply
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