‘Deeply incoherent’: Donald Trump’s Tariffs Are Colliding with Trump’s Energy Agenda

Trump tariff carve outs for oil and gas only go so far, energy industry analysts say, and costs for nearly every product that goes into the U.S. energy system.

Trump Immigration

Jabin Botsford/AP

Donald Trump’s “energy dominance” agenda, already looking increasingly difficult to achieve, is now taking a massive blow from the president’s trade agenda.

Despite Trump’s choice to exempt at least part of the energy industry from the sweeping tariffs that partially go into effect at midnight Friday, virtually no part of the U.S. energy and electricity industries will be able to avoid cost increases and significantly longer timelines induced by the new tariffs.

“There’s so much that’s deeply incoherent about this policy,” said Joe Webster, an energy expert at the Atlantic Council think tank and a former energy consulting analyst, about Trump’s new tariffs.