Oil prices eased on Thursday as the latest tariff announcements by U.S. President Donald Trump were perceived by market participants as a threat to global economic growth, however signs of strong U.S. gasoline demand limited losses.

Brent crude futures were down 3 cents at $70.16 a barrel by 0401 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude lost 6 cents to $68.32 a barrel.

On the demand side, macro uncertainty has led to a more cautious buying environment, particularly in Asia, said analytics firm Kpler in a note, while noting that geopolitical risk premiums have faded with the Israel-Iran truce holding.

On Wednesday, Trump threatened Brazil, Latin America's largest economy, with a punitive 50% tariff on exports to the U.S., after a public spat with his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Earlier, Trump announced plans about tariffs on copper, semiconductors and pharmaceuticals and his administration sent tariff letters to the Philippines, Iraq and others, adding to over a dozen of letters issued earlier in the week including for powerhouse U.S. suppliers South Korea and Japan.

As policymakers remain worried about the inflationary pressures from Trump's tariffs, only "a couple" of officials at the Federal Reserve's June 17-18 meeting said they felt interest rates could be reduced as soon as this month, the minutes released on Wednesday showed.

Higher interest rates make borrowing more expensive and reduce demand for oil.

Providing some support to prices, U.S. crude stocks rose while gasoline and distillate inventories fell last week, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday. Gasoline demand rose 6% to 9.2 million barrels per day last week, the EIA said.

Global daily flights were averaging 107,600 in the first eight days of July, an all-time high, with flights in China reaching a five-month peak and port and freight activities indicating 'sustained expansion' in trade activities from last year, J.P. Morgan said in a client note.

"Year to date, global oil demand growth is averaging 0.97 million barrels per day, in line with our forecast of 1 million barrels per day," the note said.

Additionally, there is doubt that the recent increase in production quotas announced by OPEC+ will result in an actual increase in production, as some members are already exceeding their quotas, said Tony Sycamore, an analyst at IG.

"And others, like Russia, are unable to meet their targets due to damaged oil infrastructure," he said.

OPEC+ oil producers are set to approve another big output boost for September, as they complete both the unwinding of voluntary production cuts by eight members and the United Arab Emirates' move to a larger quota.

Source: Investing.com