Crude Slumps as Trade War Overshadows Drop in U.S. Inventories
- China to impose 25% tariff on American gasoline, other fuels
- Small U.S. crude-stock decline and gasoline build both bearish
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Crude tumbled to a nearly seven-week low as the escalating trade dispute between the world’s biggest economies overshadowed a decline in U.S. crude stockpiles.
Futures declined 3.2 percent on Wednesday in New York, the biggest drop in more than two weeks. China will levy 25 percent tariffs on billions of dollars in U.S. gasoline, diesel and other goods in a matter of weeks. Meanwhile, American crude inventories fell by just a fraction of what was forecast, while the gasoline surplus expanded for the first time since June, the Energy Information Administration reported.