The U.S. administration has since said it could offer Mexico and Canada a 30-day exemption from the planned tariffs, with an option to extend the deal depending on progress in NAFTA talks. Trump is expected to sign a presidential proclamation to establish the proposed tariffs before the end of the week.
Chris Main, oil and gas analyst at Citi, told CNBC that it remained “difficult to gauge” exactly how a full-blown trade war could impact the energy market.
The decision making progress regarding the tariffs remains in its “beginning phase and so it is unlikely to have a material impact on oil prices … But it can all change very quickly,” he said during a phone interview with CNBC on Thursday.
Brent crude traded at around $64.06 on Thursday, down nearly 0.5 percent, while U.S. WTI crude was at $61.02, off by 0.2 percent.
