Oil Dips to New 2025 Low as Market Digests Trump Trade Blitz

(Bloomberg) -- Oil slipped to a new low for the year as US President Donald Trump blitzed markets with a slew of conflicting announcements on trade.

West Texas Intermediate retreated to settle further below $69 a barrel at the lowest closing price this year, following a choppy session in which thin volumes amplified swings. Trump on Wednesday made a series of apparently contradictory statements about his plans to impose tariffs on Canada, Mexico and the European Union.

The uncertainty over Trump’s actions and the threat of multiple international trade wars have cast a pall over the outlooks for economic growth and energy demand in both the US and China, the world’s two largest consumers of crude. The US diesel market already is also showing signs of demand weakness, with futures for the fuel sinking 1.9% after government data showed inventories swelled the most since early January.

“Trump actions are hurting consumer and business confidence, which again will weaken actual consumption,” said Bjarne Schieldrop, chief commodities analyst at SEB AB.

Trump on Wednesday first said his planned tariffs on Canada and Mexico would move forward before later saying they would be implemented in early April, about a month later than previously scheduled. The president also said he’d impose 25% duties on the European Union, before shifting to talk about tariffs on automobiles and other topics.

The prospect of increased flows also weighed on prices as the White House confirmed plans for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to visit the US, signaling that Russia’s crude may flow more freely in the near future if a peace deal is reached. At the same time, Iraq reached a pact with the Kurdistan region to resume oil exports.

The trade and supply news overshadowed potentially bullish developments, including Trump’s announcement that he’ll terminate oil concessions the Biden administration gave to Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro, fresh sanctions against Iranian flows and expectations that OPEC+ will again defer a plan to progressively raise output.

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