Trump’s Foreign Policy Sends Tanker Market Adrift

Vessel owners and oil traders are hesitant to enter long-term charter deals for oil tankers amid heightened geopolitical uncertainty since U.S. President Donald Trump took office. The U.S. tariffs on China, the threat of tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and the European Union, the still uncertain security situation around the Red Sea/Suez Canal route, sanctions on Iran, Russia, and Venezuela, and the talks on peace in Ukraine have increased uncertainties in the oil and the tanker markets.   Tanker owners and operators and commodity trading groups…