US President puts pressure on Venezuelan oil, deliberately attacks China, Beijing is not too worried

US President Donald Trump announced that he would impose a 25% tax on all countries buying oil from Venezuela, but is this measure really aimed at the South American country?

An oil pump at Lake Maracaibo in Cabimas, Zulia state, Venezuela. (Source: Getty Images)

On March 24, President Trump made a series of new statements about tariffs, notably warning of imposing a 25% tax on goods from countries that buy Venezuelan oil.

"If they buy oil from Venezuela, they have to pay a 25% tax when they do business with the United States. This is an additional tax on top of the existing taxes," the president said.

In Mr Trump's view, "tens of thousands of criminals" have been sent to the US from Venezuela.

According to data from the US Department of Commerce, Caracas was one of the top foreign oil suppliers to Washington last year.

In total, the world's largest economy bought $5.6 billion in oil and gas from Venezuela in 2024. This came after the administration of former President Joe Biden briefly lifted sanctions on Venezuelan oil in 2023.

Sanctions were restored in April 2024. But after that, Caracas oil continued to flow to the US.

New economic "weapon"

Commenting on Mr. Trump's move, Mr. David Goldwyn, Director of consulting firm Goldwyn Global Strategies, said that the tariff announcement could have a strong impact on Venezuela's oil exports, forcing the country to sharply reduce prices.

This policy could also push up Russian oil prices because, when Russian goods are a reasonable choice, countries will not risk having to bear new import taxes.

Analyst Leo Mariani at Roth also predicted that oil prices would likely rise following this news and could rise even higher if the announcement is implemented.

Indeed, on April 25, world crude oil prices increased by more than 1%. Brent crude oil added 1.2% to 73 USD a barrel. US crude oil WTI increased 1.2% to 69.1 USD.

Ms. Muyu Xu, senior crude oil analyst at Singapore-based analytics firm Kpler, said that the White House boss's tariff order was mainly aimed at Venezuela.

"This move is aimed at cutting off the country's economic ties with the global market and pressuring Caracas to sit at the negotiating table with the world's largest economy," said Muyu Xu.

The 25% tariff on goods from countries that buy Venezuelan oil is considered by experts to be secondary sanctions. These are financial penalties that can be imposed on other countries or individuals for trading with a sanctioned entity.

Bloomberg calls this a new economic "weapon".

The real destination

The targets of the above secondary tariffs could be very diverse as Venezuelan oil is exported to the US, Spain, India, China and even the black market.

However, some experts say this move could be a deliberate attack on China - a major buyer of Venezuelan crude oil.

According to data from Kpler, Venezuela exported about 660,000 barrels per day in 2024. Of which, China is the largest destination for the South American country's crude oil exports, buying up to 270,000 barrels/day.

“This announcement by the Trump administration appears to be a targeted action against China,” said Matt Smith, oil analyst at Kpler.

The White House boss has imposed a 20% tariff on all Beijing goods imported into Washington.

Thus, if China continues to buy Venezuelan oil, it means that goods imported into the US from the world's second largest economy will be subject to a 45% tax.

The country of a billion people firmly opposes Mr. Trump's move.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian called on Washington to stop interfering in Venezuela's internal affairs and lift "illegal" unilateral sanctions against Caracas.

“There are no winners in a trade war or a tariff war,” Lam Kiem said. “Raising tariffs will only cause greater damage to American businesses and consumers.”

China has a way to "dodge bullets"?

Going back to the past, after the US imposed sanctions on Venezuela's state oil company in 2019, China officially stopped importing crude oil from the country.

However, Bloomberg asserts that Beijing has never stopped buying goods from Caracas.

So, when Mr Trump’s secondary sanctions are imposed, China’s oil industry may not be too worried. The country can buy from Russia, Saudi Arabia and Iraq.

But that does not mean Beijing can stay out of the game.

New US tariffs could deal a blow to China's oil refineries, which are already struggling with high costs and slowing economic growth.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/tong-thong-my-gay-ap-luc-voi-dau-venezuela-tan-cong-co-chu-dich-vao-trung-quoc-bac-kinh-khong-qua-lo-308877.html