Saying he’s “pissed off” at Russian President Vladimir Putin, U.S. President Donald Trump is threatening to impose secondary tariffs on buyers of Russian crude oil and energy products.
In an interview with NBC News, Trump said he is upset with a lack of progress on a peace treaty between Russia and Ukraine, blaming Putin for continuing to wage war rather than seek a ceasefire. As such, Trump said the U.S. would impose a new 50% tariff on any countries that purchase Russian oil.
“If Russia and I are unable to make a deal on stopping the bloodshed in Ukraine, and if I think it was Russia’s fault, I am going to put secondary tariffs on oil, on all oil coming out of Russia,” said Trump during the interview. That news has oil prices up about 2%, with West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude trading at $70.77 a barrel, and Brent crude trading at $74.58 per barrel.
The news also has stocks of major oil companies such as Shell (SHEL), Chevron (CVX), and Marathon Petroleum (MPC) trading up on an otherwise down day for the markets. Each of those oil stocks is up about 1% in trading on March 31.
Roiling Oil Markets
Trump’s comments mark a major shift in U.S. messaging toward Russia over a peace deal with Ukraine and threaten major new tariffs on U.S. imports from India, China, and Turkey, the biggest buyers of Russian crude. “If you buy oil from Russia, you can’t do business in the United States,” Trump added.
Under former U.S. President Joe Biden, America banned its Russian oil imports in 2022, and together with its G7 partners imposed a $60 per barrel price cap on supplies delivered to other countries. Yet the previous administration avoided directly targeting Russia’s trade partners to mitigate price shocks to the global oil market.
India, China, and Turkey imported a combined three million barrels per day of Russian crude oil in February of this year, about 93% of its total energy exports. Trump said he plans to speak with Putin again in coming days.
Is CVX Stock a Buy?
The stock of Chevron, one of the leading U.S. oil majors, has a consensus Strong Buy rating among 14 Wall Street analysts. That rating is based on 11 Buy and three Hold recommendations assigned in the past three months. The average CVX price target of $176.64 implies 4.58% upside from current levels.
