China’s decision to impose reprisal customs duties on liquefied liquefied from the United States is a blow to US -established US gas projects plans as they seek to secure buyers before obtaining financing and construction start, according to Bloomberg Agency in a statement.
Beijing announced the imposition of 15% fees on US gas moments after President Donald Trump imposed a customs tariff on goods from Beijing, and China imported about 6% of LNG from the United States last year.
Re -Sale shipments
This step is likely to push Chinese buyers who have long -term contracts for the import of American liquefied gas to resell their shipments to importers in other places, and importers of liquefied natural gas in the country have already started selling a large part of their contracts to other markets, such as Europe, where Prices are more attractive, according to Bloomberg.
Meanwhile, Chinese LNG buyers are looking for their counterparts in Asia and Europe to exchange additional US shipments with shipments from other places, Bloomberg quoted dealers who asked not to disclose their identity because they are not authorized to speak to the media.
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According to Bloomberg, it is unlikely that Chinese companies expect new long -term contracts with American projects that are constructed as long as commercial tensions remain high, which is bad news for American exporters who need to secure buyers before obtaining the necessary financing to start construction.
US President Donald Trump, who is busy with the United States’ acute trade deficit with many countries, was clear about his intention to use the country’s high power situation in the country to balance the equation.
His threats prompted some buyers, such as India and Japan, to hold talks about buying more American gas, while Chinese companies were removed.
Beijing has previously targeted American Natural gas, and added customs tariffs to US imports in 2018 during the first Trump presidency.
The nature of the Chinese response
- China said today that it will impose 15% customs duties on its imports of coal and liquefied natural gas from the United States, after the latter imposed 10% on Chinese goods.
- The Chinese Ministry of Finance has announced today that it will impose 10% customs duties on its imports of crude oil, agricultural machines, large vehicles and small trucks from the United States.
- Beijing explained that the new customs duties is a response to “increasing the unilateral customs duties” announced by the United States during the weekend.
