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Saudi Arabia Stresses Need to Preserve OPEC+ Achievements

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is an intergovernmental organization of 13 countries, Asharq Al-Awsat
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is an intergovernmental organization of 13 countries, Asharq Al-Awsat
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Saudi Arabia Stresses Need to Preserve OPEC+ Achievements

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is an intergovernmental organization of 13 countries, Asharq Al-Awsat
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is an intergovernmental organization of 13 countries, Asharq Al-Awsat

Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman on Sunday voiced neutrality towards the OPEC+ meeting scheduled for July 5 but reaffirmed that the Kingdom’s leadership and major sacrifices in making voluntary oil production cuts had helped market recovery.

“I’ve been attending OPEC+ meetings for 34 years and have never seen such a demand; I am neither optimistic nor pessimistic about the upcoming OPEC + meeting,” Prince Abdulaziz told Al Arabiya.

“The extension of the OPEC+ agreement is the basis,” he noted, adding that increasing production was the secondary issue.

Recognizing that uncertainty still plagues the global oil market, Prince Abdulaziz reaffirmed the need to secure long-term messaging by oil producers to the market.

He asserted that Saudi Arabia, as the leader of OPEC+, continues to show balance and concern for the interests of everyone else.

“I represent a balanced country that considers the interests of all in its role as president of OPEC+,” said Prince Abdulaziz.

He said that no country could take its production level in one month as a reference, stressing that there is a mechanism for grievances in OPEC +, but selectivity is difficult.

Prince Abdulaziz added that “a bit of rationality and a bit of compromise saves OPEC+.”

“We have made fantastic achievements in 14 months, and it is shameful for us not to maintain them,” he added.

“If any country has reservations, why keep silent about them previously? Agreement exists between (OPEC+) countries, except for one country,” he noted.

While OPEC+ countries broadly agree to add 400,000 BPD monthly until the end of 2021, the UAE did not agree due to the base point of reference for production quotas.

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Trump Exempts Mexico Goods from Tariffs for a Month, but Doesn’t Mention Canada

Construction workers are seen on the site of a new development in Long Beach, California, March 5, 2025. (AFP)
Construction workers are seen on the site of a new development in Long Beach, California, March 5, 2025. (AFP)
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Trump Exempts Mexico Goods from Tariffs for a Month, but Doesn’t Mention Canada

Construction workers are seen on the site of a new development in Long Beach, California, March 5, 2025. (AFP)
Construction workers are seen on the site of a new development in Long Beach, California, March 5, 2025. (AFP)

US President Donald Trump on Thursday said Mexico won't be required to pay tariffs on any goods that fall under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement on trade until April 2, but made no mention of a reprieve for Canada despite his Commerce secretary saying a comparable exemption was likely.

"After speaking with President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico, I have agreed that Mexico will not be required to pay Tariffs on anything that falls under the USMCA Agreement," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "This Agreement is until April 2nd."

Earlier on Thursday, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the one-month reprieve on hefty tariffs on goods imported from Mexico and Canada that has been granted to automotive products is likely to be extended to all products that comply with the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement on trade.

Lutnick told CNBC he expected Trump to announce that extension on Thursday, a day after exempting automotive goods from the 25% tariffs he slapped on imports from Canada and Mexico earlier in the week.

Trump "is going to decide this today," Lutnick said, adding "it's likely that it will cover all USMCA-compliant goods and services."

"So if you think about it this way, if you lived under Donald Trump's US-Mexico-Canada agreement, you will get a reprieve from these tariffs now. If you chose to go outside of that, you did so at your own risk, and today is when that reckoning comes," he said.

Nonetheless, Trump's social media post made no mention of a reprieve for Canada, the other party to the USMCA deal that Trump negotiated during his first term as president.

Lutnick said his "off the cuff" estimate was that more than 50% of the goods imported from the two US neighbors - also its largest two trading partners - were compliant with the USMCA deal that Trump negotiated during his first term as president.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called Lutnick's comments "promising" in remarks to reporters in Canada.

"That aligns with some of the conversations that we have been having with administration officials, but I'm going to wait for an official agreement to talk about Canadian response and look at the details of it," Trudeau said. "But it is a promising sign. But I will highlight that it means that the tariffs remain in place, and therefore our response will remain in place."

Lutnick emphasized that the reprieve would only last until April 2, when he said the administration plans to move ahead with reciprocal tariffs under which the US will impose levies that match those imposed by trading partners.

In the meantime, he said, the current hiatus is about getting fentanyl deaths down, which is the initial justification Trump used for the tariffs on Mexico and Canada and levies on Chinese goods that have now risen to 20%.

"On April 2, we're going to move with the reciprocal tariffs, and hopefully Mexico and Canada will have done a good enough job on fentanyl that this part of the conversation will be off the table, and we'll move just to the reciprocal tariff conversation," Lutnick said. "But if they haven't, this will stay on."

Indeed, Trudeau is expecting the US and Canada to remain in a trade war.

"I can confirm that we will continue to be in a trade war that was launched by the United States for the foreseeable future," he told reporters in Ottawa.