Trump Says He May Use Tariffs on Oil Imports to Protect U.S. Energy Jobs – By Scott McDonald (Newsweek) / April 4 2020
President Donald Trump on Saturday said that, if needed, he will impose tariffs on oil imports in an effort to protect American energy companies and their thousands of employees.
During his press conference at the White House with the Coronavirus Task Force, the president was asked about a pending agreement between Russia and Saudi Arabia that could ultimately drive down the price of crude oil to $10 per barrel, which would harshly affect American-based companies.
Trump said that although lower gas prices are beneficial to Americans who can still drive their cars during the coronavirus pandemic for very low prices, he said it will “hurt a lot of jobs” in the United States.
“We’re the number one producer in the world right now,” Trump said before addressing Russia’s pending agreement with Saudi Arabia and OPEC. “I don’t like it for a different reason, because it’s going to hurt a lot of jobs in our country at this price. It’s going to hurt a lot of jobs.
“We’re going to take care of our energy business. And if I have to do tariffs on oil coming from outside, or if I have to do something to protect thousands or tens of thousands of energy workers and our great companies that produce all these jobs, I’ll do whatever I have to do.”
Continue to article: https://www.newsweek.com/trump-may-use-tariffs-oil-imports-protect-us-energy-jobs-1496163
