Growth in oil demand is expected to slow sharply this year because of the negative impact of US tariffs on trade, the International Energy Agency has warned in its first forecast since Donald Trump’s “liberation day” announcement.

The Paris-based agency cut its expectations for oil demand growth this year by about a third from 1.03mn barrels a day to 730,000 b/d and signalled that further downward revisions were possible depending on how the US president’s tariff programme evolved.

“While imports of oil, gas and refined products were given exemptions from the tariffs announced by the United States, concerns that the measures could stoke inflation, slow economic growth and intensify trade disputes weighed on oil prices,” it said. “With negotiations and countermeasures still ongoing, the situation is fluid and substantial risks remain.”