Matt Ott
WASHINGTON (AP) – Oil prices shook violently on Wednesday, sinking for the first time in four years, predicting that they would slow economic growth due to a burgeoning trade war.
US benchmark crude rose 2% ($1.20) to $60.79 after the latest reversal by the Trump administration, up 2% in the afternoon ($1.20) to $1.20.
That fell 4.3% per barrel to $56.98 at noon on the Mercantile Exchange in New York. Prices fell further earlier in the day, falling to levels not seen since February 2021.
Energy prices have been falling primarily since Trump took office in January, with oil barrels slipping at $20 since the beginning of the year. At this point last year, US crude barrels cost $85. The barrels reached around $71 in early April before the tariffs began.
European standard Brent crude also climbed into positive territory on Wednesday, at $63.90 per barrel.
The latest disappointment in energy prices arrived when Trump’s latest tariffs began after midnight, including a 104% tax on goods from China. The world’s second-largest economy will soon retaliate, with Beijing saying on Thursday it will raise tariffs on imported US goods to 84%.
Following the lawsuit, European Union members issued retaliatory tariffs on $23 billion in goods. For now, the items covered are only a small portion of the annual US EU trade of 1.6 trillion euros ($1.8 trillion).
The rapid decline in oil prices has shown pessimism about economic growth and could slouch the recession as manufacturers cut production, businesses cut travel costs, and families rethink their vacation plans.
Delta Air Lines. As we anticipated a record year, we pulled out our 2025 financial forecast on Wednesday as the trade war robbed expectations of business and household spending and pushed bookings down across the travel sector.
“Growth is largely stagnant due to widespread economic uncertainty regarding global trade,” said Ed Bastian, CEO of Delta.
Shares of a major US oil company also fell on Wednesday.
“We’re in a recession,” wrote Neil Dutta of Renaissance Macro Research in a note to his client. “I don’t think it would be particularly controversial to say that.”
Original issue: April 9, 2025, 12:34pm EDT
