The US will ban air travel for non-Americans arriving from most countries in Europe, for 30 days beginning at midnight on 13 March, dramatically expanding the scope of travel bans aimed to prevent the coronavirus spread that has cut jet fuel demand globally.
President Donald Trump announced the travel ban today, after his administration's halting efforts to contain the coronavirus outbreak and prevent an economic downturn have drawn criticism from Congress and Democratic presidential hopefuls.
The travel ban affects travelers from the Schengen common visa area, which includes most of the EU, as well as Norway and Switzerland. The air travel ban will not apply to the UK, which is not part of the Schengen zone.
To date, the US has banned air travel for non-Americans visiting from China and Iran. Trump left open the possibility of scaling back the travel bans as situation warrants.
Trump, who has said for two months that the coronavirus outbreak is likely to peter out quickly, now says the travel ban on China - imposed on 4 February - prevented an even greater spread of "foreign virus" in the US.
"The Europeans failed to take the same precautions and restrict travel from China and other hot spots," Trump said. "A large number of new clusters in the US were seeded by travelers from Europe."
The travel ban may also be extended to commercial trade and shipments from Europe as well. "Anything coming from Europe to the US is what we are discussing," Trump said.
Trump also said the Small Business Administration will extend emergency loans for businesses affected by the coronavirus spread and directed the Treasury Department to defer tax payments "from individuals and businesses" affected by the virus-related downturn.
Administration officials discussed these measures for three days as a way to offer economic relief to businesses, prioritizing the airline, cruise ship and hospitality industries. Deferring taxes could amount to a $200bn stimulus, treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin said earlier today.
Mnuchin has led discussions with Congress on a wider stimulus funding package.
Trump's announcement today comes just hours before the House of Representatives is expected to vote tomorrow on a stimulus package that reflects congressional Democrats' priorities for expanding paid sick leave, unemployment insurance, food security and free testing for the coronavirus.
The White House is also considering financial relief to the oil industry battered by low oil prices. But congressional Democrats have warned against bailouts for oil and gas producers, and even within the industry there is no consensus on whether relief is needed.
The White House hosted a group of oil industry lobbyists and producers earlier today. Some independent producers have pushed for relief, citing the fallout from coronavirus and the plunge in oil prices over the past week as both Saudi Arabia and Russia signaled plans to increase output in April.
But the American Petroleum Institute says it is not advocating for any form of policy relief and that its "focus is on ensuring the free market works."
US independent producer Continental Resources chief executive Harold Hamm said a trade group he chairs plans to prepare an anti-dumping investigation into Saudi Arabia.
US crude production is poised to fall to 12.7mn b/d in 2021, marking the first decline since 2016 as pressure from an oil price war crimps output, the US Energy Information Administration said today.
