WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump stated on Monday that he will impose a 25% tariff on all imports from any country that buys oil or gas from Venezuela, as well as imposing new tariffs on the South American country itself.
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In a post on Truth Social, Trump expressed that Venezuela has been “very hostile” towards the United States and that countries buying oil from the South American country will be “required to pay tariffs on all their trade with the United States” starting on April 2nd.
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In his statement, the President of the United States also said that Venezuela “has covertly and deceitfully sent tens of thousands of high-ranking criminals and other types to the United States, many of whom are murderers and very violent individuals. Among the gangs sent to the United States is the Tren de Aragua, designated as a ‘Foreign Terrorist Organization’.”.
Venezuela will also face a “secondary” tariff, the president pointed out. The Trump administration is deporting immigrants who they claim are members of that gang and who crossed illegally into the United States.
Which countries buy oil from Venezuela?
The latest tariff threat from Trump suggests that the administration will take bolder actions against China, Venezuela’s largest foreign customer. The Trump administration has already imposed a blanket 20% tariff on imports from China as an effort to combat the illicit fentanyl trade.
Trump said that his social media post on Monday would serve as notification of this policy to the Department of Homeland Security and other law enforcement agencies.
It is most likely that tariffs will be added to the taxes faced by China, which in 2023 bought 68% of the oil exported by Venezuela, according to a 2024 analysis by the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Spain, Russia, Singapore, and Vietnam are also among the countries that receive oil from Venezuela, as shown in the report. The United States imported 8.6 million barrels of oil from Venezuela in January, according to the Census Bureau.
Trump has said that he will impose tariffs starting on April 2, supposedly to match the rates charged by other countries, as well as to fully impose 25% tariffs against Mexico and Canada, the two largest trading partners of the United States.