Although the Chinese government has not yet gone so far in the ever-escalating trade war as to sanction United States oil, imports are drying up anyway as Chinese buyers shy away from U.S. crude. According to U.S. Census Bureau data released last week, for the first time since 2016, China has halted purchases of U.S. crude, importing zero barrels in August. A major blow coming from the second biggest economy in the world–a blow that is sure to have reverberating repercussions and retaliations. After Washington lifted restrictions on exports at the end of 2015, China began buying vast quantities of U.S. crude, and has even been giving Canada a run for its money as the number one importer in some instances. Chinese imports represented 23 percent of total U.S. crude exports in 2017 and averaged 22 percent this year–until August. That is definitively no longer the case, as tensions […]