"President Trump, who met last week at the White House with oil company executives and lawmakers, said over the weekend he'd wield tariffs if needed to protect the oil industry, which is reeling from a global glut in supply.

'If I have to do tariffs on oil coming from outside, or if I have to do something to protect thousands and tens of thousands of energy workers and our great companies that produce all these jobs, I'll do whatever I have to do,' Trump said at a Saturday White House briefing, warning that low prices 'are going to hurt a lot of jobs.'

A day earlier, however, Trump suggested he was unlikely to impose tariffs, which are fiercely opposed by the big oil companies, which want little government intervention.

'These are great companies, and they'll figure it out; it's a free market,' Trump said after the White House meeting Friday with the chief executives of Chevron Corp., Exxon Mobil Corp. and others. 'We'll figure it out.'"

Lesley Clark, Mike Lee, and Heather Richards report for Energywire April 6, 2020. [2]