Brent Crashes Below $60 as U.S.-China Tariff War Escalates

Brent Crashes Below $60 as U.S.-China Tariff War Escalates | OilPrice.com

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Breaking News:

ByCharles Kennedy– Apr 09, 2025, 7:44 AM CDT

Oil prices plunged early on Wednesday as China retaliated to the U.S. tariff of 104% on Chinese goods, and Brent Crude sank to below $60 per barrel for the first time in four years.

As of 8:31 a.m. EDT, the front-month Brent Crude futures prices were plummeting by 5.25% at $59.46. The U.S. benchmark, WTI Crude, plunged by 5.59% to $56.09, close to the $55 per barrel mark. That level is already $10 a barrel below the average $65 per barrel price U.S. producers need to profitably drill a new well, as they indicated in the Dallas Fed Energy Survey for the first quarter.

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Oil prices were on track on Wednesday to their biggest five-day slump of 15%-20% since July 2022.

The market rout began last Thursday, after U.S. President Donald Trump announced higher-than-expected tariffs across the board, with tariffs on China the highest.

Since then, President Trump has announced additional tariffs on China, which are 104% as of April 9. On Wednesday, the tariffs on all other countries, including the members of the EU, took effect. And markets took notice—oil plummeted amid concerns of a recession and reduced demand for oil, and equity markets tumbled again.

China, on Wednesday, hit back at the 104% U.S. tariffs and hiked additional duties on American products to 84%, sending the main Asian and European indexes sharply lower, as investors now see a trade war and recession as almost unavoidable.

China vowed to continue responding to Trump’s tariffs and said it’s prepared to go to a trade war.

“If the U.S. insists on escalating trade restrictions, China has both the determination and the means to respond forcefully – and will do so,” a spokesperson for the Chinese commerce ministry said in a statement carried by Reuters.

In the U.S. equity markets on Wednesday morning, Dow futures crashed by 2.1%, S&P 500 futures sank by 1.8%, and Nasdaq-100 futures dropped by 1.5%.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

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