Investing.com-- Oil prices fell to a near three-month low Tuesday amid heightened concerns over economic disruptions from U.S. trade tariffs, while the prospect of increased OPEC+ production also weighed.

At 08:35 ET (13:35 GMT), Brent oil futures expiring in May fell 1.5% to $70.55 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell 1.2% to $67.55 a barrel.

Trump tariffs roil markets

U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday hiked import tariffs on Chinese goods to 20%, from 10%, and said his 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico will proceed, with all three duties set to take effect this session.

News of the tariffs sparked deep losses across financial markets, with oil prices being no exception. Markets fretted that disruptions in global trade could undermine economic growth, in turn hurting demand for oil.

Trump’s tariffs on China have been a key point of concern for oil, given that they present more economic headwinds for the world’s biggest oil importer. China is also expected to retaliate with its own trade measures, escalating a trade war with the U.S.

OPEC+ to proceed with April production hike

Additionally, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, and allies, known as OPEC+, signaled on Monday that it will proceed with a planned oil output increase in April, amid pressure from Trump to increase production and bring down prices.

Increased OPEC+ production heralds less tight oil markets in the coming months, which stand to pressure oil prices.

This also comes against a backdrop of cooling oil demand across the globe, as several major economies grapple with slowing growth, sticky inflation and cooling consumer sentiment.

Still, the OPEC+’s initial increases in production are expected to be marginal - at about 138,000 barrels per day. The figure is only a fraction of the 5.8 mln bpd cut by the cartel since 2022.

Goldman Sachs sees downside risks

Goldman Sachs sees downside risks to its average Brent forecasts for 2025 and 2026 in the wake of OPEC+’s plans to increase oil output in April, including softer demand based on recent U.S. activity data and tariff escalation. It is set to begin one quarter earlier than Goldman Sachs’ prior assumption of four months of increases starting in July, the bank said.

The bank had forecast Brent oil to average $78/$73 and U.S. West Texas Intermediate oil to average around $74/$68 per barrel for 2025/2026.

However, oil supply could be higher than expected, especially if OPEC+ production increases stretch beyond the four-month base case, the bank said in a Monday note.

“Specifically, we estimate that Brent would drop to the low-to-mid $60s by end-2026 in a risk scenario where OPEC8+ supply rises for 18 months," it added.

The bank also sees some downside risk to its 1.1m b/d 2025 oil demand growth forecast based on recent U.S. economic data, softer oil demand in China and tariff escalation.

(Ambar Warrick contributed to this article.)