Oil Is Already Trade War's Collateral Damage Even Without Duties
- China refiners have avoided U.S. cargoes even without tariffs
- Dispute risks depriving China of supply source amid crunch
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U.S. oil shipments are likely to be a casualty of the trade war with China, even though crude was spared from the latest list of American goods targeted with retaliatory tariffs.
While oil has never been subject to levies during the dispute between the world’s two biggest economies, the flow of American cargoes to China has nevertheless been throttled by rising tensions over the past year. Refiners in the Asian nation -- previously the top Asian buyer of U.S. crude -- have largely shunned imports in a bid to avoid getting caught up in the trade war.