WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump said Monday he would levy a 25 percent tariff across the board on any country buying oil or gas from Venezuela, as he wages a deportation campaign against Venezuelans and slaps duties on a number of trading partners.
Since returning to the White House in January Trump has unleashed tariffs on US allies and foes alike, attempting to strong-arm both economic and diplomatic policy via the financial mechanism.
“Venezuela has been very hostile to the United States and the Freedoms which we espouse,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social network.
“Therefore, any Country that purchases Oil and/or Gas from Venezuela will be forced to pay a Tariff of 25% to the United States on any Trade they do with our Country.”
The deportation pipeline between the United States and Venezuela was suspended last month when Trump claimed Caracas had not lived up to a deal to quickly receive deported migrants, and Venezuela subsequently said it would no longer accept the flights.
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But Caracas on Saturday announced it had reached an agreement with Washington to resume repatriations after which nearly 200 Venezuelan citizens were deported from the United States via Honduras.
The agreement came only after more than 200 Venezuelans, whom Washington alleged were members of the Tren de Aragua gang, were flown from the United States to a maximum security prison and forced labor camp in El Salvador on March 16, when Trump invoked wartime powers to expel alleged gang members.
Trump said that the United States would place the secondary tariffs on countries buying Venezuelan oil “for numerous reasons, including the fact that Venezuela has purposefully and deceitfully sent to the United States, undercover, tens of thousands of high level, and other, criminals.”
“All documentation will be signed and registered, and the Tariff will take place on April 2nd, 2025, LIBERATION DAY IN AMERICA,” Trump wrote.
Trump refers to the day with the special moniker because of reciprocal tariffs he has promised to place on America’s trading partners then, in an effort to remedy practices that Washington deems unfair.
He has already unleashed tariffs on major trading partners including China, Canada and Mexico, citing trade imbalances and their failure to stem the flow of deadly fentanyl into the United States.
The move comes after the United States earlier this month gave energy giant Chevron one month to stop its operations in Venezuela, delivering a heavy blow to its cash-strapped authorities.
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