Trump eyes China with 25% tariff over Venezuela oil

Good morning. Here's what happened overnight and what you need to know today.

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1.

Tariff hammer: Donald Trump announced that any country buying oil or gas from Venezuela will face a 25% tariff on all trade with the United States from 2 April, citing his claim that Venezuela has “purposefully and deceitfully” sent “undercover” criminals to the US. Trump said his Truth Social post served as notification of the move to the Department of Homeland Security, Border Patrol and law enforcement agencies. China, Venezuela’s largest oil customer, received 55% of Venezuelan exports in February, Reuters noted. Spain, Italy, Cuba and India are also buyers. Meanwhile, the Trump administration extended Chevron’s Venezuela exit deadline to 27 May, after previously giving the company just 30 days from 4 March to wind down its operations. Trump has also invoked the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to deport alleged gang members. On 2 April, which Trump has called “Liberation Day”, he will also announce reciprocal tariffs targeting countries with large trade surpluses, though his comments overnight that car and pharmaceutical tariffs would be announced “very shortly” suggest media reports might be correct in indicating that sector-specific tariffs are now unlikely to be unveiled on that date. The Australian Financial Review, meanwhile, reports Trump’s top trade envoy is reviving a decade-old coal dispute with Australia, pressing for stalled compensation to US investors over a cancelled NSW mining licence. (AFR) (Capital Brief)(Donald Trump post)(Reuters)

2.

US Onshoring: South Korea’s Hyundai is planning to announce a USD20 billion ($31.8 billion) investment in US onshoring on Monday, according to sources cited by CNBC. The spending includes building a USD5 billion steel plant in Louisiana, which will hire roughly 1,500 employees. Steel from the plant will be used at the carmaker’s two existing automotive plants in Alabama and Georgia to build electric vehicles. The sources said Hyundai plans to open a third auto plant, also in Georgia. It comes as carmakers react to Trump’s 25% tariffs on imports of steel and aluminium to the US, with the FT reporting the number of vehicle shipments from South Korea to North America climbed 15% in February. The Tesla rival’s investment is expected to be announced by President Donald Trump, Hyundai Chairman Euisun Chung and Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry at the White House on Monday. (CNBC)(Capital Brief)

3.

OpenAI moves: OpenAI Chief Operating Officer Brad Lightcap will oversee global expansion and corporate partnerships, CEO Sam Altman said on Monday, as the Microsoft-backed startup seeks to cement its dominance in the fast-growing AI industry. “Brad will lead our global deployment, focusing on business strategy, key partnerships, infrastructure, and operational excellence to maximize the impact of our research,” Altman said in a blog post. The ChatGPT-maker is partnering with SoftBank Group and Oracle to establish a network of data centres under the USD500 billion ($795.8 billion) Stargate project, aimed at powering artificial intelligence workloads. OpenAI has also expanded the role of Chief Research Officer Mark Chen, who will integrate research and product development, Altman said. (Reuters)(OpenAI)

4.

Charging ahead: Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD reported a 29% increase in full-year sales, driven by strong domestic demand for plug-in hybrids, surpassing the USD100 billion mark and beating Tesla’s revenue. Backed by Warren Buffett, BYD posted revenue of Rmb 777 billion ($170.5 billion) and net income of Rmb 40 billion, near Bloomberg’s USD5.5bn forecast. Overseas sales topped 400,000 vehicles, with new factories underway in Europe and South America. BYD has unveiled a five-minute EV charging system and introduced new technologies, including the God’s Eye driving system. Its shares have risen over 50% in 2025.(Bloomberg)(FT)

5.

Meta rejection: Korean chip startup FuriosaAI turned down an USD800 million ($1.3 billion) takeover offer from Meta, choosing instead to grow the business as an independent company, according to media reports. Korean media outlet MK said the acquisition price proposed by Meta was around 400 billion South Korean won higher than FuriosaAI’s current market valuation. The MK source said that while there was some internal debate over the proposed price within FuriosaAI, the two sides could not narrow their differences over the direction of the business and organisational structure after the acquisition. FuriosaAI builds semiconductors for AI inferencing, and its RNGD (Renegade) processor was designed to challenge products from the likes of Nvidia and Groq. Meta is reducing its reliance on Nvidia for its microchips, announcing its efforts to build its first in-house chip for training AI systems. (MK)(Bloomberg)(Capital Brief)

6.

Bad genes: Genetic testing firm 23andMe filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and announced that co-founder and CEO Anne Wojcicki will step down. The USD50 million ($79.4 million) company cut around 40% of its workforce (around 200 employees) as part of a 2024 restructuring. Despite briefly reaching a valuation of USD6 billion after its listing in 2021, the company has never turned a profit. Seven of the company’s independent directors resigned in September, citing frustration with the CEO’s strategic direction and attempts to take the company private. Wojcicki said that she was disappointed that her recent take-private offer had been rejected, and that her decision to step down would better position her to bid on the company. Last week the California Attorney General issued an urgent alert for 23andMe customers to delete their genetic data from the company’s databases in case the company filed for Chapter 11.(California AG)(23andMe)(CNN)(Capital Brief)

7.

Tentative turnaround: Flash UK PMI data climbed ahead of expectations in March, marking the sector’s fastest pace of growth in the past six months. S&P Global’s UK purchasing managers’ index (PMI) jumped to a six-month high of 52 in March, up from 50.5 in February and well above the 50 threshold separating growth and contraction. S&P Global said that the solid pace of business activity growth in the service sector helped to offset the sharpest decline in manufacturing production since October 2023. Across the pond, the US Composite Output Index, which tracks the manufacturing and services sectors, increased to 53.5 this month from 51.6 in February. While business activity picked up, US optimism about the coming year fell off for a second month running, bringing confidence to its lowest level since late 2022 (excluding a brief drop ahead of the US Presidential election). (Capital Brief)

8.

Secret split: Days before Republicans took control of the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the agency’s five commissioners voted 4-1 behind closed doors to sue Elon Musk over his 2022 Twitter share disclosures, Reuters reported citing unnamed sources. Republican Mark Uyeda, now the acting SEC chief, cast the sole dissenting vote, according to the report. Uyeda asked enforcement staff to sign pledges the case was not driven by politics; staff refused, as that was not typical SEC practice. Republican Commissioner Hester Peirce took issue with what the SEC wanted Musk to pay—USD150 million ($239.2 million) in alleged unjust enrichment plus a penalty—but joined three Democrats in voting to sue. One week after the vote, the SEC filed a lawsuit against Musk on 14 January. Musk disclosed his stake 21 days after purchase, past the 10-day legal limit, which the SEC said allowed him to buy more shares at lower prices. A December settlement attempt failed. Musk must respond by April 4. (Reuters)