Saudi Arabia and Russia have jointly announced that they will extend voluntary oil production cuts until the end of the year. This decision, which came as a surprise to many in the oil market, will keep approximately 1.3 million barrels per day off the global market. Despite rising oil prices and expectations of tight supply in the fourth quarter, the two major oil-producing nations have chosen to maintain these cuts.

President Donald Trump has intensified his protectionist economic agenda with a bold new escalation in his trade war: announcing that tariffs on imported steel and aluminum will double from 25% to 50%, effective Wednesday. Speaking from a steel plant outside Pittsburgh—a symbolically loaded location for his blue-collar economic messaging—Trump framed the measure as essential to restoring the strength of U.S. industry and safeguarding American jobs.

The move dramatically sharpens an already fraught global trade landscape, setting the stage for fresh retaliatory measures from U.S. allies and partners, deepening uncertainty in international markets, and potentially rewriting industrial supply chain norms in strategic sectors like metals, construction, infrastructure, and defense.

China’s imports of U.S. cotton, cars, and select energy products plunged sharply in the first two months of 2025, a direct consequence of President Donald Trump’s newly imposed tariffs and China’s swift retaliatory measures. The downturn in trade signals the growing disruption global supply chains are facing as tensions between the world’s two largest economies escalate.

Cotton imports from the U.S. plummeted by nearly 80% year-on-year. Large-engined U.S. car shipments fell almost 70%, while imports of American crude oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) were down more than 40%. These declines came on the heels of China’s retaliatory tariffs, many of which were implemented in February and March, directly targeting politically and economically sensitive U.S. exports.