China stops importing liquefied natural gas from US due to tariffs
China has halted imports of liquefied natural gas from the U.S. for the past 40 days amid an escalating global trade war since President Donald Trump took office, reported Bloomberg.
The purchase freeze was the result of Trump’s imposing an additional 10% tariff on all Chinese imports on Feb. 2. In response, China imposed 15% tariffs on U.S. LNG imports and a lower tariff on crude oil imports.
China is the world’s largest buyer of LNG. The U.S. is the top global LNG shipper but was the No. 4 supplier to China in 2024.
In 2024, the top three suppliers of LNG to China were Australia, Qatar and Russia.
China’s LNG imports from the U.S. totaled 4.16 million metric tons in 2024, worth $2.4 billion, according to customs data.
In recent weeks, Chinese LNG buyers with long-term supply contracts with U.S. producers have started reselling the fuel to European buyers, Bloomberg said.
Chinese traders are also seeking long-term deals with gas producers in the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific, rather than companies in the U.S.
The first contract between China and a U.S.-based LNG producer was with Houston-based Cheniere Energy Inc. in February 2018, according to a study by the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia.