Oil Slides Most in More Than 4 Years on New Trump Tariff Threat
- Commodities ‘got smoked’ by talk of more China levies: Melek
- Tweet compounds factory slump, Fed reluctance to repeat cut
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Oil plunged almost 8% for the steepest one-day drop in more than four years after U.S. President Donald Trump escalated the trade war with China with a new tariff threat, heightening concerns about an economic slowdown that would be a drag on energy demand.
Futures closed down 7.9% in New York on Thursday. In a tweet bemoaning the lack of progress in trade talks, Trump said 10% levies will be imposed Sept. 1 on $300 billion in Chinese goods. The threat compounded fears about slumping American manufacturing activity after the Federal Reserve dashed prospects for serial interest-rate cuts to juice growth.