Afternoon Oil Analysis: Trump's Tariff Plan Triggers Market Volatility, Can Oil Prices Continue to Climb?
Brent crude futures rose slightly in early Asian trading after U.S. President Trump announced plans to impose reciprocal tariffs on multiple countries.
As of 12:00 Beijing time, the April contract price for Brent crude oil was $75.16 per barrel, up $0.14 per barrel from the settlement price on February 13, when the contract price had fallen by $0.16 per barrel; the March contract price for WTI crude oil was $71.37 per barrel, up $0.08 per barrel from the settlement price on February 13, when the contract price had fallen by $0.08 per barrel.
On February 13, Trump stated that he would impose reciprocal tariffs on imports from most countries at some point in the future, a move that could affect imports of ethanol and many other energy commodities. The idea behind the next wave of major tariffs that Trump plans to introduce is to raise the U.S. import tariffs to the same level as the tariffs that foreign countries impose on U.S. exports. A briefing released by the White House specifically pointed out Brazil's tariffs on U.S. ethanol and the European Union's higher tariffs on imported cars, which were used as examples to illustrate the so-called discriminatory treatment issues that the Trump administration is trying to address.