China imposed a 10% import duty on U.S. crude oil on Tuesday in response to the Trump administration's decision to levy an additional 10% tariff on all Chinese goods entering the U.S.
We don’t anticipate this move will significantly impact U.S. crude exports. According to our Crude Voyager report, China has made up less than 5% of U.S. Gulf Coast exports since mid-2024, down from 8.5% in 2023 and the peak of 11.5% in 2020 (see orange stacked area in chart below).
Starting on April 10, China will enact an 84% reciprocal tariff on imports of U.S. goods. This increase was in response to the 104% tariff that the U.S. placed on imports of Chinese goods, which was subsequently raised to 125% by President Trump on April 9. China is likely to retaliate further. Unlike China’s February retaliatory tariffs of 10%-15% on U.S. oil and LNG, this time NGLs and all energy products are included. These higher tariffs have the potential to destroy propane and ethane exports from the U.S. In today’s RBN blog, we look at the potential impact of China’s reciprocal tariffs on the propane and ethane markets.
The trade war between the U.S. and China continues to intensify — and now the rhetoric is shifting from steel and soybeans to oil and gas. What started as just an exchange of escalating bluster has developed into real tariffs that will be enacted beginning August 23 — which will include petroleum-based products like LPG and refined products. The commodities that would have the biggest impacts on global trade flows, liquefied natural gas and crude oil, were under tariff threat as well. LNG is still on a list of potential commodities to receive tariffs in the future, while crude has since been removed. But, keep in mind that today’s state of affairs could change tomorrow, so tariffs on those two commodities should be considered very much on the table. Today, we examine the potential trade war fallout for growing exports of U.S. LNG and crude oil.
