Trump Imposes 25% Tariffs on Venezuelan Oil Buyers in Escalation of Economic War

By Misión Verdad – Mar 25, 2025

In a significant escalation of economic pressure, President Donald Trump signed an executive order on March 24 imposing 25% tariffs on all countries purchasing Venezuelan crude oil. The sweeping measure, set to take effect April 2, will apply to all goods exported from targeted nations to the United States.

The controversial order grants Secretary of State Marco Rubio unprecedented discretionary authority to implement the tariffs, requiring only nominal consultation with the Treasury, Commerce, and Homeland Security departments.

The announcement coincided with the Treasury Department’s issuance of OFAC License 41B, extending Chevron’s special operating privileges in Venezuela until May 27, 2025. This dual move reveals the administration’s contradictory approach – maintaining critical energy flows while attempting to isolate Venezuela’s oil sector.

The Trump administration’s Venezuela strategy has devolved into a battleground between competing factions. On one side stands Richard Grenell’s pragmatic MAGA wing, favoring transactional engagement. Opposing them, Marco Rubio’s hawkish bloc pushes relentlessly for a revived “maximum pressure” campaign, with these tariffs representing their latest victory.

Reasonable doubts

Legal experts immediately raised alarms about the order’s viability. Bloomberg’s Daniel Flatley described “secondary tariffs” as a novel Trump invention – another “economic weapon” in his growing arsenal to leverage U.S. financial dominance. Notably absent were details on actual implementation mechanisms.

Venezuelan economist Francisco Rodríguez delivered a scathing critique: “This ‘secondary tariffs’ concept has no basis in U.S. law. It’s a Frankenstein’s monster of trade policy – attempting to combine country-specific tariffs with entity-specific sanctions.” He argued the measure would require “over 200 nations to rewrite their laws under U.S. coercion,” rendering it strategically incoherent.

Covert and underlying objectives

The threat of secondary tariffs against buyers of Venezuelan crude represents a new economic weapon designed to intimidate foreign companies into severing ties with PDVSA. This coercive measure seeks to achieve the same isolation effect as revoking operational licenses from Venezuela’s energy partners – including Spain’s Repsol, Italy’s Eni, France’s Maurel & Prom, and India’s Reliance – while avoiding the political costs of direct sanctions.

Trump appears unwilling to bear the consequences of outright banning these commercial relationships. Instead, the executive order creates conditions for what would appear as “voluntary” corporate withdrawals. This approach simultaneously expands his global trade war arsenal into Latin America while circumventing sanctions that could accelerate de-dollarization trends.

The OFAC License 41B extension reveals Washington’s continued dependence on Venezuelan crude. While temporarily permitting Chevron to operate (with strict export limitations to U.S. markets only), the parallel tariff threat strategically advantages the American oil major. This dual-track approach aims to dismantle PDVSA’s non-U.S. partnerships while maintaining critical energy flows.

The executive order’s explicit mention of China confirms a broader containment strategy. Following February’s America First Investment Policy memorandum restricting technological cooperation, these “secondary tariffs” specifically target the energy partnership that forms the backbone of Sino-Venezuelan relations – transforming Venezuela into a frontline of hemispheric confrontation.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun condemned the measures as counterproductive, warning they would ultimately harm U.S. consumers and businesses.

The order installs Marco Rubio as unilateral arbiter of tariff enforcement – an unprecedented institutional power grab. After being sidelined for months by Richard Grenell’s pragmatic engagement, the Florida hawk has secured his long-sought weapon to escalate aggression against Venezuela.

As analyst José Chalhoub notes: “Grenell’s progress now risks unraveling due to Rubio’s March interventions, which derailed migration negotiations and contradicted Trump’s purported realist foreign policy.” The senator exploited administration distractions over Europe to impose his “flawed vision” through punitive measures against Chevron and Venezuelan migrants.

Trump Lashes Out at Venezuela Again: 25% Tariffs on Those Who Purchase Oil & Gas; Venezuela Responds

While Rubio gains temporary leverage, he now owns full responsibility for the diplomatic and economic fallout – creating potential openings for Grenell to reassert pragmatic approaches when consequences materialize.

Trump appears content to let factions feud while Venezuela policy oscillates between confrontation and accommodation. This chaotic approach risks repeating the spectacular failures of his first-term maximum pressure campaign – though current conditions appear even less favorable for success.

While the political “ammeter” may not yet register ideal conditions for full escalation, the administration has established a dangerous new precedent in economic warfare tactics.

(Misión Verdad)

Translation: Orinoco Tribune

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