Poor anchovies. The China virus was only significant for about one of the four years of the Trump presidency and yew I do understand energy independence and under Trump, the US was a net exporter of oil and LNG.
When dealing with a dictator that is trying to take over another free nation, it is wise to have your ducks in a row before the shit hits the fan.
See, we can play with different charts and graphs each selecting what we want the other to believe but the US was very close to not needing oil imports of significance. Trumps mantra of "buy American" was brilliant and although it would take years to accomplish, he was on the correct path.
Brandon fucked all that up and now PRE-WAR, the costs of those precious fuels are costing Americans thousands of dollars more to drive their cars, heat their homes, and they get to watch the price of their food double due to trucking costs. We can talk about the hundreds of ships sitting offshore waiting to be unloaded another time since the democrats are busy running from crisis to crisis in an attempt to cover for the babbling idiot that you elected all because you hated orange man.
The United States became a net annual petroleum exporter in 2020
"In 2020, the United States exported about 8.51 MMb/d and imported about 7.86 MMb/d of petroleum1, making the United States a net annual petroleum exporter for the first time since at least 1949. Also in 2020, the United States produced2 about 18.40 million barrels per day (MMb/d) of petroleum, and consumed3 about 18.12 MMb/d. Even though in 2020, total U.S. annual petroleum production was greater than total petroleum consumption and exports were greater than imports, the United States still imported some crude oil and petroleum products from other countries to help to supply domestic demand for petroleum and to supply international markets."
