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Bessent, US Treasury Secretary, says that the oil market is well-supplied amid Iran war
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated?on?Wednesday that crude oil is well-supplied amid the U.S. and Israeli 'war in Iran. The crude markets are well-supplied. On the water, there are hundreds of millions of barrels away from the Gulf. Bessent told CNBC that, "more importantly, we will be making a series of announcements." The price of oil rose by?1% Wednesday after a?U.S. and Israeli strike on Iran disrupted Middle East supply. However, the gains were slower than in previous sessions because President Donald Trump said the U.S. Navy would be able to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz. Trump said Tuesday that he also ordered the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation will provide financial and political guarantees to maritime trade in the Gulf. Bessent stated that the U.S. Navy would provide safe passage 'through the straits' for oil tankers if needed. Reporting by Susan Heavey and David Lawder; editing by Jan Harvey, Chizu Nomiyama, and Doina Chiacu
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Bousso: Trump's Hormuz shipping plans are too little too late to avoid energy shock.
The current plan of U.S. president Donald Trump to revive shipping in the Strait of Hormuz through financial guarantees and security assistance requires a?herculean effort on behalf of international partners. Even if it is successful, the relief will be limited as the time to avoid the worst economic consequences of the closing of this vital energy route is rapidly running out. Trump said Tuesday that he had directed the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (IDFC) to provide financial guarantees and political risk insurance for maritime trade within the Gulf. He said that the U.S. Navy would begin escorting ships through the Strait of Hormuz - the 'narrow shipping lane' between Iran and Oman, through which a fifth of the world's oil and gas is normally transported. Washington is taking these measures to relieve pressure on the global energy market after the traffic through the Strait virtually halted on Saturday, following the launch of the joint U.S. and Israeli aerial bombardment against Iran. Tehran responded by striking the neighbouring countries including their energy infrastructure and forcing the closure of Qatar's LNG production as well as Saudi Arabia's biggest oil refinery. At least four other tankers were also attacked in or near Hormuz. This prompted many ship insurance companies and charterers suspending transit into and out of Gulf. Brent oil prices rose to $84 per barrel, their highest level since July 2024, after the closure. Stock markets in Asia were also sent tumbling as investors braced themselves for an economic shock. Under the current circumstances, however, it is unlikely that the U.S. will reassure shippers. In recent days, tanker freight rates have increased dramatically. Many routes are now at record levels. Chartering a crude ship capable of transporting 2 million barrels from the Gulf of Mexico to Asia costs $30 million. This is roughly 5% of cargo value at current rates and five times the cost at the beginning of the year. A MUCH BIGGER CHALLENGE Reduced costs will not reduce the risk of attack on vessels. U.S. Naval escorts could certainly reduce the risk but are unlikely to provide full protection from Iran's use of drones missiles and fast attack boats. Washington's intervention to secure shipping routes in the region is not the first time. During the "Tanker War", phase of the Iran/Iraq Conflict in the late 1980s the U.S. escorted Kuwaiti oil tanks under Operation Earnest Will, to deter Iranian attacks. Today, the scale of this challenge is much?larger. Since then, oil and gas exports have almost doubled to 20 million bpd. Qatar, the second largest LNG producer in the world, exported 80 million metric tonnes of LNG last year, which is about a fifth global demand. It wasn't a major player on the energy market in the 1980s. It would be an enormous task to secure such huge volumes of oil, gasoline and tankers. Other countries' navy would most likely need assistance. Even more important, it would take weeks, or even days to organize such an effort. TIME IS FLYING BY Both producers and consumers are running out of time. Already, the blockade of Hormuz is forcing Gulf producers into reducing their output. Iraq reduced production by over 1.1 million barrels per day (bpd) on Tuesday, or roughly one quarter of the total amount of oil produced, due to lack of storage capacity. Officials warned that if the disruption continues, production could drop by over 3 million bpd in a matter of days. Similar constraints apply to other producers. Saudi Arabia is the largest crude oil exporter in the world. It shipped 7 million barrels per day (bpd) during February. Now, it's diverting some of its output to Yanbu, a Red Sea port, via a pipeline that can handle 5 million barrels per day. Yanbu has a maximum export capacity of 2 million barrels per day, which means that the Saudi Arabian kingdom is forced to store large amounts onshore. According to Kayrros, Saudi Arabia has already stored 82 million barrels in its onshore storage facilities, which is around 56% of the capacity. United Arab Emirates can divert up 1.5 million barrels per day through a pipeline bypassing Hormuz. Kayrros explained that this would mean tapping into storage which is currently around 40% full. About 34 million barrels are already held. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the UAE could be forced to cut production further as a result of this. ASIA'S ENERGY CRUSH Consumers are also under increasing pressure. Asian refiners, who are heavily dependent on Middle Eastern oil, are struggling to replace their supplies and will likely cut operating rates. Due to the shortage of oil, two Chinese refineries already have reduced their runs. India has also curtailed its gas supply to its industrial base. The shock has rippled through the Asian financial markets. South Korea's KOSPI index has fallen 18% this week on concerns that Middle Eastern energy could disrupt the country's manufacturing and petrochemical sectors. The main question is how long will the war last. Trump has said that the war could last for weeks. However, even if Trump's plans to reopen Hormuz are successful, it may not be possible to wait. You like this column? Open Interest (ROI) is your new essential source of global financial commentary. Follow ROI on LinkedIn and X. Listen to the Morning Bid podcast daily on Apple, Spotify or the app. Subscribe to the Morning Bid podcast and hear journalists discussing the latest news in finance and markets seven days a weeks.
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Qatar's Petronet issues a force majeure order to its local buyers due to the Middle East crisis
In a filing to the stock exchange on Wednesday, India's largest gas importer, Petronet LNG Ltd. issued a "force majeure" notice to its supplier QatarEnergy and local buyers because its vessels are unable to reach Ras Laffan loading port due to the Middle East crisis. Fuel shipments have been disrupted by the U.S./Iran conflict. The transit through the Strait of Hormuz, between Iran and Oman - which carries one-fifth of the world's oil consumption as well as large amounts of liquefied - natural gas - has come to a near halt after some vessels in the area were hit. In a notice published late Tuesday, Petronet said that due to the current security situation and material risks to maritime navigation, it has issued to QatarEnergy a Force Majeure Notification for its LNG Tankers?Disha Raahi and Aseem. Petronet also notified its customers GAIL (Indian) Ltd, IOCL (Indian Oil Corp), and Bharat Petrol Corp. of force majeure. QatarEnergy also sent a notice to Petronet, "indicating that a potential event of Force Majeure could occur due to hostilities in the region", according to the Indian company. According to a report on Tuesday, Indian gas suppliers Indian Oil Corp. and GAIL have already cut gas supplies to industries such as fertiliser plants. Nidhi verma reported; Nivedita battacharjee edited.
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As the Middle East conflict escalates, airlines cancel flights
The global air travel industry is still severely affected by the Iran war, which forced the closure of key Middle Eastern hubs such as Dubai, Doha, and Abu Dhabi. This left tens and thousands of passengers stranded and disrupted thousands of flights. The following is a list of the most recent flights by airline alphabetically: AEGEAN AIRLINES Greece's largest airline has suspended flights from and to Tel Aviv, Beirut and Erbil until early morning arrivals on March 10. Flights to and from Dubai, Abu -Dhabi and Riyadh will be suspended until evening arrivals on March 6 and flights from Jeddah and Riyadh until early morning arrivals on March 7. AIR BALTIC AirBaltic, a Latvian airline, said that all flights from and to Tel Aviv have been cancelled until March 9. AirBaltic said that all flights to and out of Tel Aviv have been cancelled until March 9. AIR CANADA The Canadian carrier plans to resume flights on March 23. AIR EUROPA Spanish Airlines has cancelled all flights from Tel Aviv to March 9th. AIR FRANCE KLM Air France cancelled flights from and to Tel Aviv, Beirut Dubai, Riyadh, and Beirut through March 5. KLM announced that flights from and to Dubai, Riyadh, and Dammam have been suspended until March 9, and flights from and to Tel Aviv will be suspended through the end of winter. CATHAY PACIFIC Hong Kong Airlines has announced that it will cancel all flights from and to Dubai, and Riyadh until March 14. The U.S. carrier has cancelled flights from New York and Tel Aviv until March 22, as well as from Tel Aviv and New York until March 23. EL AL ISRAEL AIRLINES El?AL, and Sundor flight to and from Israel have been cancelled up until 2 a.m. March?5. EMIRATES All flights to and from Dubai are suspended until March 4, 2019. ETIHAD AERWAYS The UAE carrier suspended all flights from and to its Abu Dhabi hub up until 1000 GMT March 5th. FINNAIR The Finnish airline has cancelled Doha-Dubai flights until 28 March and will avoid the airspaces of Iraq, Iran and Syria. British Airways, owned by IAG, has cancelled flights from Amman to Abu Dhabi, Bahrain and Dubai as well as Doha, Tel Aviv and Doha-Doha. Iberia Express - IAG's low cost airline - has cancelled all flights between Tel Aviv and Tel Aviv until March 10. ITA AIRWAYS ITA Airways suspended all flights to and out of Tel Aviv, and will not be using the airspace in Israel, Lebanon Jordan, Iraq, and Iran before March 8. Dubai cancellations were extended until March 6th. Between March 2 and 4, Riyadh flights were cancelled. JAPAN AIRLINES Japan Airlines has suspended Tokyo-Doha scheduled flights from February 28 through March 14, and Doha-Tokyo until March 15. All flights from and to Tel Aviv have been cancelled by the Polish airline until March 18. The airline also cancelled flights from Riyadh and Dubai until 8 March. LUFTHANSA GROUP The German carrier group, which includes Lufthansa Austrian Airlines and Brussels Airlines has suspended flights from and to Tel Aviv, Beirut Amman Erbil Tehran and Tehran until 8 March and flights from and to Dubai Abu Dhabi and Larnaca 'until 6 March. MALAYSIA AIRLINES Malaysia Airlines has suspended all flights from and to Doha until 7 March. The Malaysian carrier temporarily resumed its return services from and to Jeddah, Madinah between March 4-8. NORWEGIAN AIR The Nordic airline will fly to Tel Aviv from June 15 instead of April 1 and 4, as originally planned. PEGASUS Turkish Airlines has cancelled all flights to Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Iran until March 12 and until March 6. QATAR AIRWAYS The airline said that it has suspended flights from and to Doha because of the closure of Qatari aviation. SINGAPORE Airlines Singapore Airlines has cancelled all flights to and out of Dubai until March 7. Scoot, its low-cost airline, has cancelled flights from and to?Jeddah until March 7. Turkish Airlines has cancelled flights from and to?Bahrain and other countries such as Iran, Iraq and Jordan. They also have canceled flights from and to Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman and Qatar. WIZZ AIR Through March 7, the low-cost carrier halted all flights to and from Israel and Saudi Arabia. It also ceased flights between Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Amman, Jordan's capital. (Compiled by Josephine Mason and Jamie Freed; reporting by bureaus. Editing by Barbara Lewis and Louise Heavens; Christian Schmollinger; Matt Scuffham; and Milli Nissi Prussak.
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The US LNG producers are not able to replace the lost Qatari cargos immediately
According to calculations and industry analysts, the U.S. does not have the spare capacity needed to quickly increase output of liquefied gas to offset the loss in supply caused by Qatar's suspension of production due to the conflict in the Middle East. Analysts and calculations have shown that the U.S. has little spare capacity to quickly increase output of liquefied natural gas in order to offset lost supply after Qatar halted production due?to the conflict in the Middle East. LSEG data show that the U.S. is the world's biggest LNG producer and exports?nearly 19 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day, which is converted to LNG. Qatar had to withdraw almost twice as much natural gas from the market after the wave of attacks on Monday. However, American export facilities are operating at full speed with the majority of cargoes being locked into long-term agreements. Alex Munton is the director of Global Gas and LNG for Rapidan Energy Group. He said, "There's no massive capacity sitting on the sidelines." Cheniere Energy, the world's largest LNG exporter, sold 46 million tons of LNG in 2012 and was drawing on Tuesday more than 7 billion cubic feet per day of feed gas to fuel its two Gulf Coast terminals. The company began producing from Train 5 at its Stage 3 expansion in Corpus Christi last week. However, it is expected to take a month for the relatively small unit to reach its full capacity. The majority of the work has been contracted. Cheniere said it would deliver on its customer commitments and was closely monitoring the Middle East. No. The second U.S. producer, Venture?Global, has the greatest flexibility in the short-term because it sells up to 4 bcfd in commissioning volumes at its Plaquemines facility in Louisiana on spot market. This gives Venture?Global more flexibility to redirect cargoes. CEO Mike 'Sabel said this during a Monday earnings call. Plaquemines can produce 35 million tonnes per year when fully operational, said Mike?Sabel. The project's initial approval was for?20 millions tons of annual production, but it was then increased to?27.2 million tons. The U.S. Department of Energy must sign off on the expansion. Venture Global can increase production by 800 million cubic feet a day if they receive the final approval quickly. Venture Global declines to comment further. The Golden Pass LNG Project, a joint venture of QatarEnergy with Exxon Mobil, is also expected to start initial production in this month. Demand for gas that will be converted to LNG should reach 800 million cubic feet a day for the 6 million ton per year facility. Analysts at EBW Analytics Group stated that the war could not "materially" increase the physical demand for U.S. Gas in the short to medium term. US, AUSTRALIA, AND QATAR ACCOUNTED FOR A LARGE PART OF GLOBAL LNG OUTPUT Energy analysts estimate that global gas consumption is 400 bcfd. According to the International Gas Union, about 60 percent of the global LNG production is produced in the U.S.A., Australia, and Qatar. Qatar sold around 10 billion cubic feet per day of LNG before it halted production. This was to buyers from Europe and Asia. Australia exports around?11 Bcfd. The flow capacity of smaller producers is limited. LSEG data show that LNG Canada is capable of producing up to 2 bcfd but currently produces about 1.5 bcfd. Gerald Ramdeen, chairman of the National Gas Company in Trinidad and Tobago said that it is diverting more gas from Trinidad and Tobago to Atlantic LNG in order to maximize exports. Atlantic could use 1.2 billion cubic feet per day of gas if one train is mothballed, and another is undergoing repair. According to LSEG, it was already nearing 1 bcfd and had room to add around 200 million cubic foot in the short-term. Calculations show that the new U.S. output that could be coming online soon will?unlikely exceed 2 bcfd and fall far short of what Qatar has left behind. Potential buyers would have to pay for transport vessels to be rerouted to the other side. Gas prices soared on Tuesday. The Dutch TTF benchmark hit a three-year-high near $19 per million Btu while the Japan-Korea Marker reached an eight-month-high near $13. According to the maritime data analytics platform Kpler, despite what will likely be a major LNG disruption, LNG diverts are not happening. Reporting by Curtis Williams from Houston and Scott DiSavino from New York, with editing by Nathan Crooks & David Gregorio
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Chief commercial officer of Adidas Israel says that a bomb has hit an Adidas store in Israel
Adidas' chief commercial officer announced on Wednesday that a bomb had hit one of the company's franchise shops in Israel, but no injuries were reported. This was in the context of the ongoing war in Iran. Mathieu?Sidokpohou, Adidas' chief commercial officer, told journalists at a press briefing that "we had one franchise in Israel that was indeed attacked three days ago." He said, "Fortunately the store was closed so no one in our team was affected." "So far, the business has not been our top priority in that area. It's the people who come first." As the U.S. and Israel conflict with Iran escalated, many stores in Dubai as well as other major Middle Eastern hubs were forced to close or operate with a skeleton crew. Adidas CEO Bjorn Gulden stated at the same conference that "we have people sitting in shelters". Adidas has 350 franchise and chain stores in six countries that are affected by 'the war. Gulden stated that Adidas would suffer a revenue impact from the closed?stores? in Middle East and delays with?some of their products being sent via air freight throughout the region. (Reporting and editing by Matthias Williams, Miranda Murray and Helen Reid)
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Iranian sources claim that Mojtaba, Khamenei’s son, is still alive and has a good chance of succeeding him.
Two Iranian sources said on Wednesday that Mojtaba Khamenei is still alive and has a good chance of becoming the successor to his father, Ali Khamenei. As 'new explosions' shook the city of Tehran, huge crowds were expected to fill the streets on Wednesday evening in mourning for the elder Khamenei (86), who was killed by Israeli forces as part of the 'first assassination by airstrike of a country’s top leader. Israel and the United States continued their assaults against Iran around the clock on Wednesday, in a "campaign" that the top U.S. general said was ahead of the game plan. Investors were not convinced by Donald Trump's promises to reopen the most important shipping route in the world and release Middle East oil and natural gas that had been blocked. Two Iranian sources who spoke on condition of anonymity said that Mojtaba (56), was not present in Tehran when the attack destroyed the compound of the leader and killed his wife, another child, and several senior military and leadership figures. Iran announced that the Assembly of Experts, which will select the next leader, will announce their decision soon. This is only the second occasion since the Islamic Republic was founded in 1979. "The Supreme leader will be identified at the earliest opportunity. We are nearing a conclusion." Ayatollah Ahmed Khatami, a member of the Assembly, told state TV that the situation in Iran is one of war. He claimed that the candidates were already?identified, but did not identify them. Israel has said that it will hunt down the chosen. Israel Katz, the Minister of Defence, said that "every leader nominated by the Iranian terror régime to continue and lead their plan to destroy Israel and to threaten the United States, the free world, and countries in the region -- and to suppress the Iranian population -- will be a clear target for elimination." "It doesn't matter where or what his name is." Israel has said that its forces have been hitting targets in Iran for the fifth consecutive day. A Yak-130 Iranian aircraft was shot down by an Israeli F-35 fighter over Tehran. This is believed to be first time that the new generation F-35 has taken out a manned aircraft during combat. The body of Khamenei will lie in state at the prayer hall The body of Khamenei, the founder of Islamic Republic and predecessor of Khamenei, Ruhollah Khomeini, will lie in state on Wednesday night at the Imam Khomeini Prayer Hall of Tehran. Hassan, Khomeini’s grandson, is also considered a possible candidate for supreme leadership. He represents the reformist wing, which was suppressed by Khamenei. Mojtaba is the obvious favourite. He ascended to power as a senior security figure under his father and has a vast business empire that they control. It would be a sign that the hardliners are still in control if he was chosen. Some Iranians openly celebrate the death of Khamenei. His security forces had killed thousands of antigovernment demonstrators just weeks before, in the largest domestic unrest since era of revolution. Iranians who are angry at the government say that there is unlikely to be any protests while bombs continue to fall. "We have no place to go to protect us from strikes. How can we protest?" Farah, 45 said on the phone from Tehran. The Revolutionary Guards, the Basiji militia and other groups "are everywhere." They will kill us. He said: "I hate this regime but I must first think about my children's safety." Iran continued to launch attacks against Israel and Arab Gulf States that host U.S. base despite initial U.S. hopes for a quick and decisive removal of Tehran's clerical leaders. Admiral Brad Cooper is the head of Central Command and the commander of the U.S. military campaign. He said that 50,000 troops, 200 aircraft carriers, and 200 jets were engaged in "24/7 attacks on Iran from the seabed to cyberspace and space", with more assets coming. 'SHOOTING WHY WE CAN BE SHOT' Cooper said in a video released Tuesday evening that Iran's air defenses were badly degraded. Its navy was without operational vessels along important waterways, after 17 of its vessels had been sunk. And more than 2,000 Iranian target had been struck, Cooper stated. He said, "My assessment of the overall operation is that we're ahead of schedule." "In plain English, we are focused on shooting anything that can shoot us." Air-raid sirens in Israel sounded warnings, and buildings began to shake as Iranian missiles intercepted. The price of oil rose on Wednesday after Iran attacked ships and energy installations, closing the Strait of Hormuz where a quarter of the world’s oil and natural gas is shipped. Scores of vessels have stopped in the Gulf. Qatar, one of the world's largest LNG producers, shut down its production. Iraq has reduced its oil production. The Revolutionary Guards warned vessels on Wednesday not to pass through the Strait, according to the semi-official Fars News Agency. Trump said that the U.S. Navy would be able to escort oil tankers across the Strait, if needed. Shipowners and analysts, however, are unsure whether this would be sufficient to curb rising oil prices or if the U.S. could spare vessels for such a task without exposing them as targets of attack. Trump faces political fallout in the event that energy prices continue to rise, as his Republican Party attempts to retain control in the November congressional midterm elections.
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Middle East conflict forces governments to consider repatriation
Due to the conflict escalating after U.S., Israeli and other strikes on Iran there have been a number of commercial flights grounded across the Middle East. This has left foreigners stranded and prompted governments to consider repatriation. Below, you will find a list of what officials and governments have said in relation to repatriation. AUSTRALIA Foreign Minister Penny Wong stated that Australia is in talks with airlines to assist Australians who are stranded within the Middle East. However, evacuations will be difficult as much of the airspace in the region remains closed. She stated that approximately 115,000 Australians were in the area and the best option would be to bring people back home once commercial airline services resume. Wong refused to confirm if the government was planning any repatriation flights. "The airspace is closed. "So whether it's an Australian flight or commercial flight, flights cannot take place," she said. AUSTRIA Austria's Foreign Ministry said that it has assisted 117 citizens who were vulnerable to leave the UAE or Israel via neighbouring countries. It is planning a charter flight for 170 passengers from Muscat tomorrow, but warned that travellers would do so at their own risk. BELGIUM On Tuesday, Belgium announced that it would send military aircraft to the Middle East in order to bring back Belgian civilians. BULGARIA According to NOVA TV, the Bulgarian foreign minister announced that the first evacuation flight for citizens stranded outside of the UAE and Oman would take place on Wednesday. The first flight will include 300 people from Oman. FRANCE Several repatriation flight for French citizens, of which around 400,000 are in the area, was planned for Wednesday, according to France's foreign minister. France has deployed consular teams to Israel's border with Egypt and Jordan in order to facilitate the land exit so that people can continue their journey by air. A similar mechanism has been implemented in the UAE, at the borders with Oman, Saudi Arabia and Oman, where there is no restriction on airspace. GERMANY Berlin plans to charter two Lufthansa flight, one from Riyadh, and another from Muscat to transport citizens who are particularly vulnerable, such as children and pregnant women, or people with disabilities. TUI, a tour operator, said that it is working on returning thousands of cruise passengers. Initial groups are flying home with Gulf carriers such as Emirates, Etihad, and Qatar Airways. GREECE Aegean Airlines, which was requested by Oman's foreign ministry to fly Greek nationals back to Greece, will land in Athens Wednesday afternoon. Prime Minister KyriakosMitsotakis stated that Greece has a plan for repatriating thousands of its citizens stranded across the Middle East. HUNGARY Hungary's Foreign Minister said that repatriation flight from Amman - and Sharm el Sheikh will operate on Wednesday and Friday, with each aircraft able to carry up to 90 passengers. Video reports show that a first charter flight, carrying 127 Italians stranded or relocated from Dubai to Oman, landed at Rome's Fiumicino Airport late Monday night, March 2. The Italian Embassy is credited by passengers who arrive in Rome for helping them to return. One passenger estimated the cost of the flight at around 1,500 euros. PHILIPPINES The President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. called on Filipinos living in Israel and other countries affected by the earthquake to leave for safety. He said that the government would organize repatriation flights as soon as it felt safe to do so. Marcos stated that more than 2.4 millions Filipinos work and live in the Middle East. This includes 31,000 Filipinos in Israel and 800 Iranians. More than 1,000 of these migrant workers requested to be repatriated. ROMANIA The Romanian foreign ministry announced that?more 300 citizens returned home on Monday from Cairo after traveling overland to Israel. More than 3,000 requests for repatriation have been received and there are approximately 16,000 Romanians in the region. SERBIA Air Serbia's flight from Sharm el-Sheikh landed early in the morning on Wednesday with 67 passengers evacuated from Israel. SLOVENIA The prime minister's statement said that on Tuesday, four buses were organized by Slovenia to transport Slovenian citizens, families and children from Dubai airport to Muscat Airport in Oman. Two more flights are scheduled for Wednesday afternoon and evening. SPAIN Spain began evacuating their citizens from the Middle East on Tuesday, said Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares. On Tuesday night, more than 175 Spanish citizens arrived in Abu Dhabi via Istanbul. Albares said that Spain would also reinforce its embassies located in the UAE and Saudi Arabia as well as Oman and Bahrain, to support and facilitate future repatriations. UNITED ARAB EMIRATES State news agency WAM reports that the UAE civil aviation authority will start operating "special flights", across the country's various airports, to assist some of the tens and thousands of passengers stuck in the region. UNITED KINGDOM The British Foreign Office announced that British chartered flight will depart Oman on Thursday morning and Wednesday evening, giving priority to vulnerable UK citizens who want to leave the area. Announced: Limited or no government evacuations The Dutch government has no immediate plans to repatriate 93 Dutch citizens and several Belgian and Luxembourgers who were on a KLM flight that landed early Wednesday morning at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. Switzerland announced that it will not be organizing evacuations for 4,400 travellers and 35, 000 residents of the region. The U.S. State Department advised Americans to immediately leave more than 12 Middle Eastern countries using commercial options. They also encouraged travellers to enroll in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program.
Some small businesses don't think a refund of tariffs is worth the effort.
Friends began texting him to congratulate him the day after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against the tariffs which had cost Day?Owl, a backpack company owned by Ian Rosenberger, tens and thousands of dollars. He did not share their joy.
Rosenberger said, "I can't imagine any way that I could get the?money back." His Pittsburgh-based firm, which had only a few million dollars of sales, probably couldn't afford to pay for attorneys' fees. Around 2,000 companies have filed lawsuits for refunds at the U.S. Court of International Trade. This includes?FedEx?,?Costco?, and L'Oreal?, with many more likely to follow. The Supreme Court ruled February 20 that President Donald Trump had no authority to use emergency tariffs. Many businesses are now bracing themselves for a long fight to recover their money.
Many small business owners have come to the conclusion, however, that while the ruling may look good on paper, recovering tariff costs won't be an easy task - if they can even do it at all.
According to lawyers and business owners surveyed by, suing for refunds could divert time or money from running their businesses. The time spent by Wild Rye's CEO Cassie Abel on the team was enormous. "The number of conversations and analyses that we have done... has been massive," she said.
Small businesses paid one-third of tariffs. According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce (USCC), 97% of U.S. Importers are small 'businesses. The tariffs that they paid will be a major headwind for 2025. Researchers at the Penn Wharton Budget Model of the University of Pennsylvania estimate that small businesses paid $55 billion of the $175 billion of tariffs to the U.S. Government.
Oliver Dunford, an lawyer at the public interest law firm Pacific Legal Foundation, who represented Princess Awesome, the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit against tariffs, said that some cash-strapped, small businesses will "just have to eat their losses." Legal considerations are an additional cost for smaller companies that have to deal with global uncertainty.
Even small businesses who can afford to litigate take a wait-and?see approach.
ECR4Kids makes learning and child-focused products such as toy boxes and cubbies. Its annual revenue is approximately $70 million. Lee Siegel, the founder and managing director of ECR4Kids, is delaying litigation for the time being, citing the lack of clarity in the court process and the uncertainty of the outcome.
"I'm waiting to see what happens in a couple of weeks," Siegel said, whose firm has paid around $2 million for the tariffs that were subsequently rescinded.
Siegel is looking to use refunds as a way to reduce the price of ECR4Kids’ unsold U.S. stock. A long and expensive court process may make them less valuable. He said that "the refund is important" but it would be more valuable if the process was completed sooner. This allows us to stabilise pricing.
"NOT DIFFICULT OR NOVEL"
Small business advocates claim the government already has the infrastructure in place to refund tariffs. "This is neither novel nor difficult," said Dan Anthony. He is the executive director of a coalition of small businesses called We Pay the Tariffs.
In a press conference following the ruling, Trump said that "we will end up in court for five years over refunds." George Tuttle, an international trade expert and lawyer, says that the government may end up keeping some of the money in dispute if claimants cannot afford to fight.
Eva St. Clair is the co-founder and CEO of Princess Awesome. She says that she hopes (the government) will refund us without further litigation, but hasn't completely ruled out taking legal action to recover $30,000 in tariffs.
The cost is the biggest obstacle. PLF's Dunford represented her company, which was able to survive tariffs by collecting $8,000 in virtual tips from customers. St. Clair stated, "I cannot imagine the cost of paying a lawyer." Banks and hedge funds buy refund claims for about 40 cents per dollar. This allows some businesses to recover a portion of the claim without having to go through the legal process. Others, however, refuse to sell on principle.
Michael O'Shaughnessy is the president of Element Electronics, a television supplier. His company has filed for a refund but he's not getting too excited. "Once the government has your money, it's gone forever."
After tariffs went into effect, Rosenberger reduced Day Owl's reach and fired the head of an important sales channel. He said that sacrificing a refund would save his business.
If I spend all my time with attorneys, I won't have time to sell backpacks.
(source: Reuters)