U.S. to impose 25% tariffs on countries buying Venezuelan energy

US President Trump posted on social media that any country that buys oil or gas from Venezuela will have to pay a 25% tariff to the United States in any trade with the United States. Trump also said that the relevant rules will take effect on April 2. The Venezuelan Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement saying that it firmly opposes the US government’s imposition of a 25% secondary tariff on countries that trade oil and gas with Venezuela. Venezuelan Foreign Minister Hill said on the 24th that the US’s move to impose a 25% tariff on countries that buy oil and gas from Venezuela is “illegal” and “arbitrary.” Hill issued a statement on social media saying that this US move blatantly violated international trade rules, especially the principle of most-favored-nation treatment and the principle of universal abolition of quantitative restrictions stipulated in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. Venezuela condemned the United States’s renewed violation of the global economic order and will take all appropriate actions in various international organizations to safeguard its rights.