President Donald Trump is imposing a 25% 'Secondary' tariff on Venezuela, and a 25% tariff on "any Country that purchases Oil and/or Gas from Venezuela," payable to the United States "on any Trade they do with our Country."

Trump cited "the fact that Venezuela has purposefully and deceitfully sent to the United States, undercover, tens of thousands of high level, and other, criminals, many of whom are murderers and people of a very violent nature," in his 25% tariff on Venezuela, and says the additional 25% tariff punishing anyone buying oil or gas will begin on April 2nd.

Needless to say, the news sent oil immediately higher in Monday trade.

The move would particularly affect China, which has been a major purchaser of Venezuelan crude - and it's unclear i) if China will agree to be impacted by unilateral tariffs and ii) how the US would enforce them against China.

Venezuelan crude exports had risen to a five-year high in February before the Trump administration said it was forcing Chevron to wind down its operations by April 3. Chevron had sought more time to conclude operations with Venezuela's state-owned Petroleos de Venezuela. In canceling the deal, Trump  announced in a post on Truth Social that he was "reversing the concessions" of the "oil transaction agreement, dated November 26, 2022."

These were concessions enacted by his Democratic predecessor Joe Biden, which had allowed Chevron Corp - active in the Latin American country for a century - to produce and sell oil in Venezuela despite sanctions.

The news comes one day after Venezuela agreed to resume accepting US deportations of illegal immigrants, and is sure to escalate tensions with the Maduro government as Trump seeks to crack down on the Venezuelan gang, Tren de Aragua.

In February, Trump ordered the termination of a key oil deal with Venezuela,

What's going on here?

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