On March 24, 2025, President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order (EO) declaring that any country purchasing oil from Venezuela, “whether directly from Venezuela or indirectly through third parties,” will pay a 25% tariff on their exports to the United States. The EO tasks the Secretary of Commerce with determining whether a country buys Venezuelan oil.
Referencing the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), President Trump explains in the EO that the 25% tariff is necessary to thwart “Venezuela’s ongoing destabilizing actions, including its support for illicit activities, [which] necessitate further economic measures to protect United States interests.” According to the EO, the tariff “will be supplemental to duties on imports already imposed pursuant to IEEPA, section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, section 301 of the Trade Act of 1964, or any other authority.”
The 25% will take effect on April 2, 2025—the same day Trump is expected to implement a variety of tariff strategies based on reports he is set to receive April 1, 2025, from various trade-adjacent departments and agencies pursuant to his “America First Trade Policy.” (For background on the “American First Trade Policy,” see Update of January 22, 2025.) However, “the tariff…shall expire 1 year after the last date on which the country imported Venezuelan oil, or at an earlier date if the Secretary of Commerce…so determinates[.]”
According to a 2024 report and 2023 report by Reuters, China is the largest purchaser of Venezuelan oil; other major buyers include Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, European countries, India, and Panama. By comparison, the data show the United States is the second-largest purchaser, though the amount bought is expected to decline after the Trump administration announced the winding down of a general license permitting a major U.S. company to transact with Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PdVSA), Venezuela’s state-owned oil and natural gas company (see Update of March 25, 2025).