Washington (Reuters) – US President Donald Trump announced on Monday that any country buying oil or gas in Venezuela would pay additional customs duties of 25% on trade with the United States.

These so -called “secondary” customs duties will come into force on April 2, said Donald Trump in a message published on Truth Social.

In particular, they could affect China, the main black gold buyer from Venezuela. Spain, Italy, Cuba and India are other countries consuming Venezuelan oil.

The government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro had not immediately responded to a request for comments.

Donald Trump’s announcement comes when relations between the United States and Venezuela, already difficult, have deteriorated in recent weeks after Washington has accused Caracas of refusing to accept planes carrying Venezuelan migrants. Venezuela for its part denounced a blockage of the United States.

“Venezuela was very hostile in the United States,” the American president said on his social network on Monday.

After an agreement between the two countries on a resumption of thefts, a group of 199 Venezuelan migrants expelled from the United States arrived in Caracas on Monday, announced the Venezuelan Minister of the Interior, Diosdado Cabello.

Donald Trump also invoked a law on “foreign enemies” dating from the end of the 18th century to expel members of the Venezuelan gang Tren from Aragua to Salvador.

Despite a court decision blocking the measure, more than 200 Venezuelans, including 137 under the law on “foreign enemies”, were expelled to the country of Central America.

Venezuela denies any involvement of migrants in the criminal group. On Monday, Diosdado Cabello estimated that the Venezuelans detained in Salvador were “taken in hostages”.

(Written by Timothy Gardner in Washington and Marianna Parraga in Houston, with the contribution of Doina Chiacu and Katharine Jackson, Johnny Carvajal and Mayela Armas in Caracas; Blandine Hénault)

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