The oil industry’s largest trade group lashed back at President Trump’s Monday night announcement imposing a 10-percent tariff on an additional $200 billion worth of Chinese goods.
“We understand the need to address discriminatory trade practices, but this policy will essentially impose a new tax on $200 billion worth of products on which American families and businesses rely,” said Kyle Isakower, economic policy vice president for the American Petroleum Institute.
He explained that the oil and natural gas boom the country is experiencing has supplied U.S. consumers and businesses with low cost energy, which strengthens the U.S. economy. The tariffs will not only harm drillers, but they will also harm the success of Trump’s pro-growth agenda, which relies on oil and natural gas production and exports, said Isakower
The escalation of the trade war with China “works against” the American energy industry to “counter to the Administration’s stated goal of ‘energy dominance,’” Isakower added.
The U.S. became the largest oil producer in the world last week, pushing out Russia and Saudi Arabia from the top spots, according to the Energy Information Administration. A substantial chunk of U.S. oil production is going to China in the form of exports.
The oil industry has criticized the Trump trade agenda for ramping up tariffs on steel and other products, which limits the industry’s ability to build pipelines and related infrastructure, which makes the nation less competitive.
Much of the specialized steel products that industry relies upon are imported from overseas suppliers. Many U.S. foundries are not capable of producing many of the products the industry requires to continue its growth.
The new round of tariffs announced Monday targets an additional $200 billion worth of Chinese products, adding to the $50 billion in tariffs previously enacted. The massive escalation of the trade dispute may only be beginning, as Trump also threatened tariffs on $267 billion of goods on top of Monday’s announcements.
