The Trump administration announced a suite of tariffs that could affect $60 billion worth of Chinese products, a move intended to step up pressure on what the administration argues is China’s efforts at intellectual property theft. The Washington Post reported that after President Trump’s aides brought him a package of $30 billion worth of tariffs on China, he told them to double the figure. The move will likely spark retaliation, and it would come shortly after the administration imposed steel and aluminum tariffs, which affect much more of the world than just China. In the U.S., the steel tariffs have been vociferously opposed by the oil and gas industry. Pipelines, platforms, drilling rigs, processing facilities – the entire oil supply chain relies on steel. Oil and gas pipelines import about three-quarters of the steel used to build projects in the U.S. A few days ago, the Commerce Department published […]