IRNA – China's major oil giant has paused importing oil from the US due to escalation of trade war between the two countries, a Chinese daily reported on Saturday.


China’s largest refiner, Sinopec, is suspending new orders of US oil fearing the new tariffs on US energy products that will make the crude more expensive, South China Morning Post reported citing a source close to the company.

A source close to Unipec, the trading arm of Sinopec, has told Reuters that the company has not placed order to buy oil from the US at least until October.

China in retaliation of the US tariffs increase has put US energy products on a list of 25 percent tariff.

The decision is contrary to what the Chinese oil consumer had said earlier. It was expected that Unipec increase its oil imports from the US triple the amount it bought last year.

'The absence of China, the largest buyer of U.S. crude after Canada, has partly weighed on U.S. spot crude prices, making them more affordable for other buyers in Asia,' Reuters reported.

The decrease in the US oil import by China comes a few months after Washington pressed its allies to halt oil imports from Iran by November. The US President Donald Trump has decided to pull out of the nuclear deal and tighten the sanctions noose on Iran economy.

Beijing, however, declined to stop imports from Iran, dealing a blow to US efforts to isolate that nation, the Hong Kong-based daily said.