US President Donald Trump on Monday announced steep tariffs on imports from countries buying Venezuelan oil and gas, a punitive measure that could hit China and India, among others.
The across-the-board 25 percent levies targeting direct and indirect buyers of Venezuelan oil can take effect as soon as Wednesday next week, according to an order signed by Trump, who accused Venezuela of “purposefully and deceitfully” sending “undercover, tens of thousands of high level, and other, criminals” to the US.
The 25 percent tariff would be on top of existing rates, he said.
Photo: AFP
China is the largest importer of Venezuelan oil, while other buyers include India, Spain and the US itself.
Caracas called the measure a “new aggression” by Washington.
“They can sanction and impose tariffs on whatever they want, what they cannot sanction is the love and patriotism of the Venezuelan people,” Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said during an event broadcast on radio and television.
China yesterday accused Washington of “interfering in Venezuela’s internal affairs.”
The US must “abolish the illegal unilateral sanctions,” Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Guo Jiakun (郭嘉昆) told a news conference in Beijing.
Trump has dubbed Wednesday next week “liberation day” for the world’s biggest economy, already promising reciprocal tariffs tailored to each trading partner in an effort to remedy practices that Washington deems unfair.
He earlier signaled sector-specific duties to start on the same day — but the White House on Monday said that it might take a narrower approach.
Sector-specific tariffs “may or may not happen April 2,” a White House official told reporters, adding that the situation is “still fluid.”
The official reaffirmed that reciprocal tariffs would take place.
Trump told reporters on Monday that he might “give a lot of countries breaks” eventually, without elaborating.
He separately added that he would announce car tariffs “very shortly” and those on pharmaceuticals later down the line.
Separately, South Korean auto giant Hyundai Motor Co on Monday announced a multibillion-dollar investment in the US, including a new US$5.8 billion steel plant.
The plant, which is to be based in Louisiana, “will create 1,300 American jobs,” Hyundai executive chairman Euisun Chung told reporters at a White House event alongside Trump.
The move would also serve “as the foundation for a more self-reliant and secure automotive supply chain in the US,” Chung said.
Hyundai’s announcement makes it the latest firm to announce plans to invest billions of dollars into the US since Trump’s return to office in January.
“Cars are coming to this country at levels never seen before,” Trump told reporters on Monday.
The investment was “a clear demonstration that tariffs very strongly work,” he said.
“Hyundai will be producing steel in America and making its cars in America, and as a result, they’ll not have to pay any tariffs,” Trump added.
Anna Bhobho, a 31-year-old housewife from rural Zimbabwe, was once a silent observer in her home, excluded from financial and family decisionmaking in the deeply patriarchal society. Today, she is a driver of change in her village, thanks to an electric tricycle she owns. In many parts of rural sub-Saharan Africa, women have long been excluded from mainstream economic activities such as operating public transportation. However, three-wheelers powered by green energy are reversing that trend, offering financial opportunities and a newfound sense of importance. “My husband now looks up to me to take care of a large chunk of expenses,
SECTOR LEADER: TSMC can increase capacity by as much as 20 percent or more in the advanced node part of the foundry market by 2030, an analyst said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is expected to lead its peers in the advanced 2-nanometer process technology, despite competition from Samsung Electronics Co and Intel Corp, TrendForce Corp analyst Joanne Chiao (喬安) said. TSMC’s sophisticated products and its large production scale are expected to allow the company to continue dominating the global 2-nanometer process market this year, Chiao said. The world’s largest contract chipmaker is scheduled to begin mass production of chips made on the 2-nanometer process in its Hsinchu fab in the second half of this year. It would also hold a ceremony on Monday next week to
TECH CLUSTER: The US company’s new office is in the Shalun Smart Green Energy Science City, a new AI industry base and cybersecurity hub in southern Taiwan US chip designer Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) yesterday launched an office in Tainan’s Gueiren District (歸仁), marking a significant milestone in the development of southern Taiwan’s artificial intelligence (AI) industry, the Tainan City Government said in a statement. AMD Taiwan general manager Vincent Chern (陳民皓) presided over the opening ceremony for the company’s new office at the Shalun Smart Green Energy Science City (沙崙智慧綠能科學城), a new AI industry base and cybersecurity hub in southern Taiwan. Facilities in the new office include an information processing center, and a research and development (R&D) center, the Tainan Economic Development Bureau said. The Ministry
Nvidia is to open a quantum computing research lab in Boston, where it plans to collaborate with scientists from Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said on Thursday. Huang made the announcement at Nvidia’s annual software developer conference in San Jose, California, where the company held a day of events focused on quantum computing. Nvidia added the program after Huang in January said that useful quantum computers are 20 years away, comments that he sought to walk back on Thursday while joined onstage by executives from quantum computing firms. “This is the first event in history
RSS