US threatens 25% tariff on countries that buy Venezuelan oil

President of the United States Donald Trump said on Monday he would be placing a 25 per cent tariff on all imports from any country that buys oil or gas from Venezuela, as well as imposing new tariffs on the South American country itself.

In a Truth Social post, Trump said Venezuela has been “very hostile” to the US, and countries purchasing oil from it will be forced to pay the tariff on all their trade to the US, starting on April 2.

Venezuela will face a “secondary” tariff because it is the home to the gang Tren de Aragua, he said. The Trump administration is deporting immigrants that it claims are members of that gang who illegally crossed into the United States.

Trump’s latest tariff threat suggests the administration will take bolder moves against China, the largest customer for Venezuelan oil. The Trump administration has already levied universal 20 per cent tariffs on imports from China as an effort to crackdown on the illicit trade in fentanyl.

The US president told reporters during a public portion of a Cabinet meeting on Monday that the tariffs related to Venezuela were “long in the making”, as he promised forthcoming import taxes on autos and pharmaceutical drugs that, he has pledged, will lead to more investment and factories inside the United States.

Trump has labelled April 2 as “liberation day” based on his still unclear plans to roll out import taxes to match the rates charged by other countries, as well as fully levy 25 per cent tariffs against Mexico and Canada, the two largest US trading partners. The Republican president has also increased his 2018 tariffs on steel and aluminium to 25 per cent for all imports. Trump told reporters on Friday that there would be “flexibility” in his tariffs, even as he has opposed granting exemptions to his import taxes.

The US stock market had been climbing on Monday as investors expect the tariffs to be more targeted than they earlier feared. Still, the S&P 500 index is down so far this year, out of concerns that a trade war could hinder economic growth and increase inflationary pressures.

Trump said his social media post on Monday would serve as notification of this policy to the US Department of Homeland Security and other law-enforcement agencies.

The tariffs would most likely add to the taxes facing China, which in 2023 bought 68 per cent of the oil exported by Venezuela, according to a 2024 analysis by the US Energy Information Administration. Spain, Russia, Singapore and Vietnam are also among the countries receiving oil from Venezuela, the report shows. The United States in January imported 8.6 million barrels of oil from Venezuela, according to the US Census Bureau.

AP