WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump announced Monday steep tariffs on imports from countries buying oil and gas from Venezuela, a punitive measure that could hit China and India, among others, and sow fresh global trade uncertainty.
Since returning to the White House in January Trump has unleashed tariffs on US allies and foes alike, attempting to strong-arm both economic and diplomatic policy via the mechanism.
The latest across-the-board 25 percent levies targeting buyers of Venezuelan oil will come into effect April 2, Trump said on his Truth Social platform Monday.
These could hit China and India in particular.
Trump has dubbed the date “Liberation Day” for the world’s biggest economy, already promising reciprocal tariffs tailored to each trading partner in an effort to remedy practices that Washington deems unfair.
On Monday the White House said it might consider more targeted tariffs than expected.
In his latest announcement involving Venezuela, the president cited “numerous reasons” for what he called a “secondary tariff.”
He accused Venezuela of “purposefully and deceitfully” sending “undercover, tens of thousands of high level, and other, criminals” to the United States.
He added in his post that “Venezuela has been very hostile to the United States and the Freedoms which we espouse.”
Under past rounds of US sanctions, Venezuela had been able to shift exports to major economies like China and India.
Trump’s announcement comes as the deportation pipeline between the United States and Venezuela was suspended last month when Trump claimed Caracas had not lived up to a deal to quickly receive deported migrants.
Venezuela subsequently said it would no longer accept the flights.
But Caracas said Saturday that it had reached agreement with Washington to resume repatriations after which nearly 200 Venezuelan citizens were deported from the United States via Honduras.
Trump’s latest move adds to a range of tariffs he has already vowed would start on or around April 2.
He previously promised sweeping sector-specific duties hitting imported automobiles, pharmaceuticals and semiconductors.
As things stand, however, his plans might become more targeted and affect certain trading partners more heavily.
Sector-specific tariffs “may or may not happen April 2,” a White House official told AFP on Monday, adding that the situation is “still fluid.”
“No final decisions have been made yet on sectoral tariffs being tacked onto reciprocal for April 2,” the official said on condition of anonymity.
But the official reaffirmed that reciprocal tariffs would take place.
Hopes of a narrower tariff rollout earlier gave financial markets a boost.
The White House has vowed to impose “big tariffs” on April 2 in a major escalation of Trump’s trade war, saying that “America has been ripped off by every country around the world.”
Last week, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox Business’ Maria Bartiromo that Washington would go to trading partners with an indication of where tariff levels and non-tariff barriers are.
If countries stopped their practices, Bessent added, they could potentially avoid the “tariff wall.”
In the same interview, Bessent noted that the levies would be focused on about 15 percent of countries who have trade imbalances with the United States, dubbing these a “dirty 15.”
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