What effect will Trump’s tariffs have on US LNG exporters in particular and LNG trade? China is the world’s second largest importer of LNG after Japan and an important customer for U.S. LNG. For example, this year between January and August, China purchased 1.6 of the 14.9 million tonnes of U.S. LNG, according to Thomson Reuters’ data, but Sept. 24 marked the start of President Trump’s imposition of tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods and China’s retaliatory levy of 10 percent on imports of US LNG. What effect will this have on US LNG exporters in particular and LNG trade? Wholesale prices are already near their highest levels in a decade, driven by rising shipping costs, low European gas stocks and Chinese purchases to avoid a recurrence of last winter’s gas shortages. In the run-up to and during this winter, tariffs on U.S. LNG could lead Chinese […]