Trump is set to implement tariffs of 25% on countries that purchase oil from Venezuela.

Trump is set to implement tariffs of 25% on countries that purchase oil from Venezuela. Starting on April 2, the United States will impose a 25% tariff on the commerce of any country that purchases oil or gas from Venezuela.

This announcement was made by US President Donald Trump. On Monday morning, Trump issued his most recent tariff threat in a post on Truth Social, in which he criticised Venezuela for inciting migration to the United States.

Additionally, he expressed his dissatisfaction with the government, which is presided over by President Nicolas Maduro. Trump wrote, “Venezuela has been extremely hostile to the United States and the freedoms that we support.” Consequently, any nation that purchase oil and/or gas from Venezuela will be obligated to remit a 25% tariff to the United States on any trade they conduct with our nation.

The tariff appears to be intended to inflict a blow not only on Venezuela but also on China, the United States’ primary economic competitor and the largest consumer of Venezuelan petroleum products. Subsequently, during a cabinet meeting at the White House, Trump declared that tariffs would be implemented on pharmaceuticals, automobiles, and aluminium.

In his inaugural term from 2017 to 2021, Trump implemented a “maximum pressure” campaign against the South American nation, imposing severe sanctions on its government. The Maduro regime has been accused of human rights violations, such as the arbitrary detention and torture of dissidents. Trump even offered a $15 million reward for information that would result in Maduro’s detention during his inaugural term.

Venezuela is home to some of the world’s largest crude oil reserves and the largest natural gas deposits in South America. The country’s economy is heavily dependent on petroleum exports. It was uncertain whether Trump would resume his “maximum pressure” campaign as he began his second term in January. Critics conjectured that Trump’s commitment to oversee a “mass deportation”

campaign would necessitate some degree of collaboration with the Maduro administration. Trump’s special envoy, Richard Grenell, met with Maduro on February 1 to request that the Venezuelan leader welcome undocumented migrants who were deported from the United States. In contrast, Maduro has accused the United States of interfering in his country’s affairs and attempting to depose his government.

He has also attributed the exacerbation of an economic crisis to US sanctions, which were in part the consequence of a significant decline in oil prices in the mid-2010s.Trump wrote, “Venezuela has purposefully and deceitfully sent tens of thousands of high-level and other criminals, many of whom are murderers and of a very violent nature, to the United States undercover.” “Tren de Aragua, which has been designated as a “Foreign Terrorist Organisation,” is one of the gangs that they sent to the United States.”

We are currently carrying out the process of returning them to Venezuela, which is a significant undertaking. Trump has long associated migration with criminality, which has exacerbated nativist concerns about a criminal “invasion” of the United States. Nevertheless, Venezuela’s economic crisis and political repression have been significant factors in the country’s rapid exodus. In response to the scarcity of essential commodities, including food and medication, approximately 7.7

million Venezuelans have evacuated the nation. Numerous individuals are refugees or asylum candidates. Critics have also cautioned that Trump’s tariff threats could have an unintended consequence, resulting in increased prices for American consumers. Spain, Brazil, China, and Turkey are among the nations that acquire Venezuela’s crude products, resulting in tariffs of 25%.

Venezuela’s oil production has been in decline for over a decade, falling from 3.2 million barrels per day in 2000 to 735,000 barrels per day in September 2023, according to the US Energy Information Administration. Venezuela’s hydrocarbon exports were estimated to be worth $13.68 billion in 2023 by the Organisation of the hydrocarbon Exporting Countries (OPEC).