March 24 (UPI) — President Donald Trump on Monday announced plans to hit Venezuela with a “secondary tariff” of 25% on countries that purchase oil and gas from the Central American nation.
Trump said the tariffs will be imposed next week because Venezuela has sent migrants who are criminals and gang members into his nation. Those allegations have not been supported factually against all migrants.
Trump also Monday said he may scrap plans for 25% reciprocal tariffs to other nation for imports of pharmaceuticals, cars and lumber set to go into effect April 2.
“I may give a lot of countries breaks,” Trump said Monday in the White House of reciprocal tariffs that match foreign countries’ ones dollar for dollar. “We might be even nicer than that.”
Trump didn’t specify countries exempted but at a later White House event said semiconductor industries also may be targeted and hinted at ones on autos.
At the market close Monday, the stock prices were up broadly upon news Trump may not enact the broad tariffs. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 597.97 to 42,583.32, Standard & Poors 500 up 100.01 to 5,767.59 and NASDAQ Composite up 404.54 to 18,188.59.
West Texas Intermediate crude oil May futures were up 98 cents to $69.25 barrel.
He posted on Truth Social: “President Donald J. Trump announced today that the United States of America will be putting what is known as a Secondary Tariff on the Country of Venezuela, for numerous reasons, including the fact that Venezuela has purposefully and deceitfully sent to the United States, undercover, tens of thousands of high level, and other, criminals, many of whom are murderers and people of a very violent nature. Among the gangs they sent to the United States, is Tren de Aragua, which has been given the designation of ‘Foreign Terrorist Organization.'”
Trump didn’t cite evidence on the criminals sent from Venezuela.
Also in the post, the president also said Venezuela “has been very hostile to the United States and the Freedoms which we espouse.”
“Therefore, any Country that purchases Oil and/or Gas from Venezuela will be forced to pay a Tariff of 25% to the United States on any Trade they do with our Country,” he wrote. “All documentation will be signed and registered, and the Tariff will take place on April 2nd, 2025, LIBERATION DAY IN AMERICA.”
Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to depart Tren de Aragua members. A district judge on Monday declined to block his restraining order.
Oil exports
Venezuela exported an average of at about 660,000 barrels of crude oil per day in 2023, including 233,000 to the United States and 270,000 to China, according to data obtained by CNBC from Kpler.
Saudi Arabia was the No. 1 exporter, with 6.659 million per day.
In 2023, the Biden administration lifted sanctions on Venezuelan oil but they were reinstated in April 2024 after the country’s leader, Nicolás Maduro, was accused of failing to hold free and fair elections.
Chevron was granted permission to pump oil there. The Treasury Department announced on Monday it would be extended to May 27. Chevron’s stock price on NASDAQ was up slightly Monday.
CITGO, a U.S.-based oil refiner and subsidiary of Venezuela’s state-owned oil company PDVSA, is not publicly traded.
Tariffs could be imposed on goods from China because of oil purchases from Venezuela. This means those goods will face a 45% tariff, with steel and aluminum hit with a 70% tax.
Trump has already enacted 20% tariffs for all Chinese goods entering the United States, with steel and aluminum imports facing an additional 25% tariff.
“This announcement by the Trump administration appears to be one more action targeting China,” Matt Smith, lead oil analyst of the Americas at Belgian analytics provider Kpler, told CNN.
