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President Donald Trump on Sunday said he would take the dramatic step of imposing a tax on foreign oil if Saudi Arabia and Russia can’t settle their ongoing dispute that has led to the collapse of global energy prices.
“If they don’t get along, I would do tariffs, very substantial tariffs,” Trump told reporters Sunday at the daily White House coronavirus briefing, referring to Russia and Saudi Arabia.
“We would essentially be saying ‘we don’t want any foreign oil,’” the president said. This would help save the U.S. oil and gas industry with tens of thousands of jobs, he added.
The president said he ultimately didn’t think he would have to follow through on this threat.
“I would use tariffs if I had to. I don’t think I am going to have to. Because Russia doesn’t benefit by having this and Saudi Arabia doesn’t benefit by having this,” he said. “Oil and gas are their major sources of income. So it’s obviously very bad for them.”
On Thursday, Trump tweeted that he thought Russia and Saudi Arabia could reach a deal to cut production. The tweet led to a record increase in oil prices.
Read:Why a Saudi Arabia-Russia deal to cut oil output would mean nothing without U.S. cooperation
Oil futures CL.1, -6.45% headed lower Sunday evening in electronic trade after a key meeting between the Saudi-led Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, including Russia, was shifted to Thursday from Monday.
Read:Oil heads lower as Monday meeting of major producers gets delayed
