Trump announces 25% tariffs on countries that buy gas or oil from Venezuela
Spain imported more than three million tons of Venezuelan crude oil last year.
BarcelonaThe President of the United States is back. This Monday, Donald Trump announced that he will impose 25% tariffs on all countries that purchase oil or gas from Venezuela. "Venezuela has been very hostile toward the United States and the freedoms we stand for. Therefore, any country that buys gas or oil from Venezuela will be forced to pay a 25% tariff in the United States on any trade they do with our country," he stated in a post on Truth Social. As Trump has stated, the measure will go into effect on April 2.
Trump has said he will impose a "secondary tariff" on Venezuela for many reasons, including the fact that the South American country, he claims, has deliberately and deceptively sent "tens of thousands of high-level criminals and others" to the United States. In the same post, the US president said that among the gangs coming from Venezuela is the Tren de Aragua, which has been designated a foreign terrorist organization. "We are in the process of returning them to Venezuela. It's a big job!" he added.
Spain is among the countries that buy oil from Venezuela. Last year, Spain imported over three million tons of Venezuelan crude, 116.1% more than the previous year, according to data from the Strategic Reserves Corporation of Petroleum Products (Coras). This represents 4.7% of all crude oil imported into Spain last year, making Venezuela the eighth largest supplier. In fact, the United States ranked first, with 15.9% of the total. The country that buys the most Venezuelan crude is China.
Earlier this month, Trump terminated the license that allowed the US oil company Chevron to operate in Venezuela, telling it it would have one month, until April 3, to end its operations in the South American country. At the end of February, the president had said he would end the Venezuelan oil export licenses for penalizing Nicolás Maduro's government for failing to speed up the deportation of undocumented migrants.
The trade war, far from over
Trump's announcement comes 10 days later of the latest tariff threat, then targeting "all wines, champagnes, and alcoholic beverages," with tariffs of 200%. He also announced this through Truth Social, and the reason was that the European Union, according to the president himself, "is one of the most hostile and abusive tariff authorities in the world." A month earlier, Trump He signed taxes for another specific sector: 25% for imports of aluminum and steel from all countries.
After this umpteenth tariff announcement, the trade war launched by the US president appears to be just getting started. Donald Trump has also said he will soon announce new tariffs on automobiles, aluminum, and medicines.
