Trade
US Crude Flows to China Trickle to Near Zero After Tariff Blitz
Flows from the US to China in the early months of this year added up to roughly 1% of the country's imports.
Photographer: Ian Tuttle/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
The flow of oil from the world’s biggest producer to its largest importer is set to thin to virtually zero as a trade war between the two powerhouse economies escalates.
After climbing in recent years, oil shipments from the US to China have been on the decline for much of 2025, thanks to US President Donald Trump’s successive rounds of tariffs at a time when the domestic refining sector is already under pressure. Beijing’s retaliation, raising tariffs on US imports to 84%, plus the latest US hike in duties on China to 125%, have only darkened the picture further.