Crude Oil Pulls Back Below $60 A Barrel After Early Surge

(RTTNews) - After showing a strong move to the upside early in the session, the price of crude oil once again came under pressure over the course of the trading day on Tuesday.

Crude for May delivery tumbled $1.12 or 1.9 percent to $59.58 a barrel after jumping as much as 1.7 percent to a high of $61.75 a barrel in early trading.

The price of crude oil extended the nosedive seen over the two previous sessions, plunging to its lowest level since April 2021.

Crude oil initially benefitted from optimism about negotiations on President Donald Trump's new tariffs that could help avoid a global trade war.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said approximately 70 countries have approached the White House about trade talks, with Japan purportedly getting priority status.

"I think you are going to see some very large countries with large trade deficits come forward very quickly," Bessent said during an interview on CNBC. "If they come to the table with solid proposals, I think we can end up with some good deals."

Trump also said in a post on Truth Social that he had a "great call" with South Korea's acting President Han Duck-soo and said the country's "top TEAM is on a plane heading to the U.S., and things are looking good."

Buying waned over the course of the session, however, as tensions over tariffs continue to rise between the U.S. and China.

China has vowed to "fight to the end" after Trump threatened to impose an additional 50 percent tariff on Chinese goods unless the country withdraws its new 34 percent tariff on U.S. goods.

A White House official told CNBC the effective tariff rate on China will spike to 104 percent at midnight, when Trump's other "reciprocal tariffs" are also set to take effect.