SINGAPORE:
Asian governments are looking to buy more US oil and gas as they scramble to lower their trade surplus with Washington in hopes of easing their tariff burdens under President Donald Trump’s sweeping new import duties.
Many Asian countries run large trade surpluses with the United States and are also major energy importers.
Trump’s tariffs, which have been partially paused, have rattled economies and markets. Below are some of the measures that Asian countries plan to bolster purchases of US oil and gas. Pakistan is considering importing crude oil from the United States for the first time to offset a trade imbalance that triggered higher US tariffs, according to a government source directly involved with the proposal and a refinery executive.
The refinery executive told Reuters that the idea is to buy US crude equivalent to Pakistan’s current imports of oil and refined products, or about $1 billion of oil.
India is weighing a proposal to scrap import tax on US liquefied natural gas (LNG) to boost purchases and help cut the trade surplus with Washington, a key irritant for President Donald Trump, four government and industry sources said.
It also plans to end taxes on US ethane and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) imports.
The country’s largest LNG importer GAIL India has issued a tender to buy an up to 26% stake in an LNG project in the US combined with a 15-year gas import deal.
Indonesia will propose increasing its imports of crude oil and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) from the US by around $10 billion as part of its tariff negotiations, energy minister Bahlil Lahadalia told local media on Tuesday. Bahlil said the energy ministry recommended increasing the LPG import quota for the US as well as importing more US crude to help reach the target.
