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Informist, Monday, Mar. 24, 2025

 

NEW DELHI – US President Donald Trump announced Monday that US will impose secondary tariff on Venezuela for numerous reasons and any country that buys oil or gas from Venezuela will pay a 25% tariff on any trades made with the US. "All documentation will be signed and registered, and the tariff will take place on April 2nd, 2025, Liberation Day in America," Trump said in a Truth Social post.

 

This comes as a huge blow to India who was finally hoping for operational clearance to buy Venezuelan oil. Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri had said on Feb. 11 that India may buy more oil from venezuela as regulatory restrictions placed on the country were likely to ease. Speaking at a media briefing during the India Energy Week, Puri had said the restrictions and payment issues with Venezuela now seem to be clearing up.

India's ability to import oil from Venezuela had been limited in the first place due to sanctions imposed by the US. The US first imposed restrictions on the export of crude oil from Venezuela in 2019, under Trump's first term as president. The restrictions were eased in 2023 as the US issued a six-month general licence to allow transactions in the oil and gas sector. In April 2024, the US reimposed a ban on export of crude oil, except for some companies. The oil-rich country suffers severe economic delinquencies due to poor fiscal management, which is also the reason for the US' sanctions against it.

The US' move also comes at a time when ONGC Videsh, the overseas arm of state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp. Ltd., was planning to recover over $500 million in pending dividends from Venezuela by getting more crude oil and increasing production at its two projects in the Latin American country, both of which are operated by sanctions-hit Petroleos de Venezuela, SA.

 

The fresh sanction against Venezuela are for many reasons, including "purposefully" and "deceitfully" sending to the US "tens of thousands of high-level" undercover, and other criminals, many of whom are murderers and people of a very violent nature, Trump said in the post. "Among the gangs they sent to the United States, is Tren de Aragua, which has been given the designation of "Foreign Terrorist Organization."  

 

Venezuela is an attractive source for crude oil for India as it offers cost benefit. India, the third-largest consumer of oil, requires about 5 million barrels of oil per day, of which over 88% is imported and this tariff could complicate its energy strategy, considering its reliance on diversified oil sources to manage costs and supply security.  End

 

Reported by Priyasmita Dutta

Edited by Akul Nishant Akhoury

 

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