US oil and gas trade groups, which have celebrated much of the energy policy agenda of President Donald Trump’s administration, have also quietly spent much of the first six months of his presidency waging an unsuccessful battle for tariff relief on metals and component goods that raise the industry’s costs.

Lobbying groups representing a broad swath of the US oil and natural gas industry met with numerous federal agencies in recent months to illustrate the difficulty of sourcing necessary equipment and materials from within the US that those companies have been importing from around the world, according to documents seen by Argus and obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests.

While Trump’s so-called “energy dominance” agenda is a “much-welcomed step” for the US offshore oil and gas industry, “the imposition of tariffs on critical supplies, equipment, and materials has created a real barrier to investment in US offshore projects,” according to a 12 June letter seen by Argus that the trade group National Ocean Industries Association (NOIA) sent the US Department of Commerce. “Existing US mills lack the ability to produce the metals our industry needs to maintain and grow our operations, due in large part to the specialized nature and tight specifications of offshore energy producers,” NOIA president Erik Milito wrote Joseph Bartlett, deputy under secretary at the US Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security.

Moreover, a 25pc tariff on imported steel will raise offshore project costs by 8pc, Milito said, citing a 31 May white paper by energy consultancy Rystad Energy that Milito said was consistent with information NOIA had received from its members. Trump in early June raised the steel tariff on most countries to 50pc.

“We believe well-designed and targeted relief from the tariffs can both drive US energy dominance and attract investment in the US supply chain,” Milito said in the letter.

The more than 6,000 independent US oil and gas producers represented by the Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA) were also “concerned about possible steel and aluminum tariffs and the impact they will have on their operations,” according to a 9 April email seen by Argus that IPAA chief operating officer Dan Naatz sent officials in the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR). Moreover, IPAA’s members, which account for 83pc of US crude output and 90pc of US natural gas output, were “concerned about the broader tariff discussion and the impact tariffs could have on the American economy.”

WTI crude oil futures plunged to a four-year-low of under $60/bl in the week after the 2 April tariff announcement, which Trump dubbed “Liberation Day.” Prices have partially rebounded since, settling on 8 August at $63.88/bl, but still down by 11pc from the 2 April settlement.

IPAA’s executive committee met with USTR on 16 April to discuss the tariffs. The group has not met with USTR since, according to people familiar with the matter. US oil producer Continental Resources helped broker the meeting, emails seen by Argus show.

“Sorry to do this but would you be interested in doing a video call with a group from IPAA?” Continental senior vice president of government and regulatory affairs Blu Hulsey asked USTR senior advisor Sam Scales. “I think it will be better to hear from a group and it will allow several from the industry to hear from you.”

IPAA, NOIA and Continental Resources declined to comment for this story.

Part of the challenge oil and gas groups face in lobbying the Trump administration for tariff exemptions stems from the difficulty of getting through to figures in government who actually wield authority over trade policy, sources said.

“I think this [decision-making around tariffs] is happening at a very high level at the White House,” one oil trade group executive told Argus. “I think it’s the president and a few key advisors making these decisions.”

An important exception to oil and gas groups’ difficulty in securing exemptions from Trump’s tariffs is the exclusion of energy and energy resources, including oil and gas, from the so-called “reciprocal tariffs” Trump imposed on 2 April. The American Petroleum Institute (API) hailed the targeted exclusion, which “underscor[ed] the complexity of integrated global energy markets and the importance of America’s role as a net energy exporter”, API chief executive Mike Sommers said the same day.

By: Julian Hast , 11/08/25