In other news, after removing tariffs of more than 10% on the majority of affected countries, the US has seemingly doubled down on China. After increasing their bespoke tariff from 104% to 125% on Wednesday, the US announced another hike on Thursday, this time to 145%. China has so far reciprocated the tariffs up to 125% and appears determined to retaliate further, depending on how the situation evolves. This may be stoking fears of a prolonged trade war between the world’s two largest economies. Such a trade war could have widespread, unforeseeable effects on the global energy supply and demand dynamic due to the potential for significant changes to current global economic norms.

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