Oil extended a brutal selloff that’s driven prices to a four-year low as an intensifying trade war threatens to batter energy demand.

Brent sank as much as 3.1% to drop below $61 a barrel, as West Texas Intermediate fell for a fifth day. While the White House said it is open to deals with some trade partners, tit-for-tat retaliation against China — the largest crude importer — and Beijing’s pusback have sparked fears of a recession.

Crude has collapsed by almost a fifth this year as US President Donald Trump’s aggressive trade agenda has eviscerated appetite for risk assets, with oil joining other commodities and equities in a swift and deep global market slump. The losses have been compounded by a decision by OPEC+ to loosen supply curbs at a faster clip than previously expected. The one-two punch has spurred concerns that oil supplies will run ahead of demand.

“Tariff escalation continues to sour the global growth outlook, leaving further downside risk to oil demand,” said Warren Patterson, head of commodities strategy at ING Groep NV in Singapore. “With no signs of de-escalation, risks remain skewed to the downside.”

Trump is pushing ahead with higher duties on roughly 60 trading partners that he dubbed the “worst offenders,” with the new levies set to take effect after midnight New York time. Most critically, the president plans to forge ahead with what would amount to a 104% duty on many Chinese goods after Beijing hit back at the US with its own charges.

“Assuming China does not announce another round of counter-tariffs, then Brent should just be able to hold above $60,” said Robert Rennie, head of commodity and carbon research at Westpac Banking Corp. “However, if we see another round of retaliation, then another leg lower through $60 looks likely.”

Key market metrics point to fast-loosening conditions. Among them, the spread between Brent for this coming December and the same month in 2026 has plunged into contango, a bearish pattern in which the nearer-dated contract trades at a discount to the longer-dated one.

While the bulk of Trump’s tariffs, as well as retaliatory levies from other nations, threaten to stoke inflation by making goods more costly for consumers, oil’s collapse — plus associated declines in products such as diesel — will offset some of that process. US gasoline futures have sunk by about 15% so far in April.

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