China has agreed to buy U.S. oil, President Donald Trump said, as a substantial amount of Iranian exports to the Asian giant continue to be blocked by Washington's blockade of the key waterway.
Speaking in a pre-recorded interview with Fox News, Trump said Chinese buyers are "going to go to Texas, we're going to start sending Chinese ships to Texas and to Louisiana and to Alaska."
"They have an insatiable appetite for energy, and we have unlimited energy," Trump added. CNBC noted that U.S. crude and petroleum exports to China dropped significantly since 2023, with crude ones plunging by 95%. China's energy and foreign ministries did not respond to the outlet's question about the announcement.
Trump also said in China that Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping offered him help to strike a deal with Iran and would "like to see the Hormuz Strait open" as the stalemate between the two countries continues.
"President Xi would like to see a deal made. He would, he would like to see a deal made. And he did offer. He said, 'If I can be of any help at all, I would like to be of help,'" Trump told Fox News' Sean Hannity.
10% of China's imports came from Iran in 2024, CNBC added based on the U.S. Energy Information Administration. "China has a much bigger interest in reopening the strait than the U.S. does," Bessent said.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also said that Beijing will work "behind the scenes" to get the waterway reopened. "It's very much in their interest to get the strait reopened," he told CNBC's Joe Kernen. "I think they will be working behind the scenes to the extent anyone has any say over the Iranian leadership."
Oil prices are rising again on Friday in the meantime as the Strait of Hormuz remains closed and a top Iranian official said the country "cannot trust the Americans at all."
Brent crude, the international benchmark, rose by 2.78% and clocked in at $108.65 at 10:30 a.m. ET, while West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark, did so by 3.07% and stood at $104,29 at the same time.
The most recent developments regarding energy prices involve Iranian and U.S. officials. In the case of the former, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the country is "trying to maintain" the ceasefire to "give diplomacy a chance."
Speaking at a press conference in New Delhi during the ongoing BRICS summit, Araghchi went on to say that the country's lack of trust in the U.S. is the "main obstacle to any diplomatic effort."
"Every day brings a different message, sometimes even two different messages in a single day, which deepens mistrust," the official added.
