Oil Advances as Trump’s Tariff Threats Rattle Global Markets
Oil climbed as US President Donald Trump reiterated plans to impose tariffs against Canada and Mexico from Saturday, although crude flows may be exempted from the levies.
West Texas Intermediate rose above $73 a barrel, with Brent closing near $77. The US president said he would follow through on his threat to impose 25% tariffs on imports from the two countries, and also said he would target China. A decision on whether crude is included may come in the next few hours.
Crude is still set for a modest advance in January, although gains from US sanctions on Russia and cold weather have largely been offset by Trump’s planned tariffs and his calls on OPEC to lower crude prices by increasing production. Traders expect the group to stick with its current supply policy — to gradually add supply only from April — at a review meeting next week.
Canada supplies about 4 million barrels of oil a day to the US, and the two countries’ crude markets are closely integrated. Valero Energy Corp., the third-biggest US fuelmaker by market value, expects domestic refiners to cut production if the new tariffs limit imports of foreign oil.
Earlier, Trump said would be making a determination on whether to exempt crude from the levies as soon as Thursday evening in the US, basing his decision upon the price of oil. “We don’t need the products that they have,” he said. “We have all the oil that you need.”
WTI for March delivery rose 0.6% to $73.19 a barrel at 8:10 a.m. in Singapore.
Brent for March settlement, which expires Friday, closed 0.4% higher at $76.87 a barrel.
Source: Bloomberg
