
Trump's tariff pressure pushes Asia toward American LNG, but at the cost of climate goals
HANOI--Asian countries are offering to buy more U.S. liquefied natural gas in negotiations with the Trump administration as a way to alleviate tensions over U.S. trade deficits and forestall higher tariffs. Analysts warn that strategy could undermine those countries' long-term climate ambitions and energy security.
Buying more U.S. LNG has topped the list of concessions Asian countries have offered in talks with Washington over President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs on foreign goods. Vietnam's Prime Minister underlined the need to buy more of the super-chilled fuel in a government meeting, and the government signed a deal in May with an American company to develop a gas import hub. JERA, Japan's largest power generator, signed new 20-year contracts last month to purchase up to 5.5 million metric tons of U.S. gas annually starting around 2030.
U.S. efforts to sell more LNG to Asia predate the Trump administration, but they've gained momentum with his intense push to win trade deals.
Liquefied natural gas, or LNG, is natural gas cooled to a liquid form for easy storage and transport that is used as a fuel for transport, residential cooking and heating and industrial processes.
Trump discussed cooperation on a $44 billion Alaska LNG project with South Korea, prompting a visit by officials to the site in June. The U.S. president has promoted the project as a way to supply gas from Alaska's vast North Slope to a liquefication plant at Nikiski in south-central Alaska, with an eye largely on exports to Asian countries while bypassing the Panama Canal Thailand has offered to commit to a long-term deal for American fuel and shown interest in the same Alaska project to build a nearly 810-mile (1,300-kilometer) pipeline that would funnel gas from
The Philippines is also considering importing gas from Alaska while India is mulling a plan to scrap import taxes on U.S. energy shipments to help narrow its trade surplus with Washington.
'Trump has put pressure on a seeming plethora of Asian trading partners to buy more U.S. LNG,' said Tim Daiss, at the APAC Energy Consultancy, pointing out that Japan had agreed to buy more despite being so 'awash in the fuel' that it was being forced to cancel projects and contracts to offload the excess to Asia's growing economies.
'Not good for Southeast Asia's sustainability goals,' he said.
Experts say LNG purchasing agreements can slow adoption of renewable energy in Asia.
Locking into long-term deals could leave countries with outdated infrastructure as the world shifts rapidly toward cleaner energy sources like solar or wind that offer faster, more affordable ways to meet growing power demand, said Indra Overland, head of the Center for Energy Research at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs.
Building pipelines, terminals, and even household gas stoves creates systems that are expensive and difficult to replace—making it harder to switch to renewables later. 'And you're more likely then to get stuck for longer,' he said.
Energy companies that profit from gas or coal are powerful vested interests, swaying policy to favor their business models, he said.
LNG burns cleaner than coal, but it's still a fossil fuel that emits greenhouse gases and contributes to climate change.
Many LNG contracts include 'take-or-pay' clauses, obliging governments to pay even if they don't use the fuel. Christopher Doleman of the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis warns that if renewable energy grows fast, reducing the need for LNG, countries may still have to pay for gas they no longer need.
Pakistan is an example. Soaring LNG costs drove up electricity prices, pushing consumers to install rooftop solar panels. As demand for power drops and gas supply surges, the country is deferring LNG shipments and trying to resell excess fuel.
Experts said that although countries are signaling a willingness to import more U.S. LNG, they're unlikely to import enough to have a meaningful impact on U.S. trade deficits.
South Korea would need to import 121 million metric tons of LNG in a year — 50% more than the total amount of LNG the U.S. exported globally last year and triple what South Korea imported, said Doleman. Vietnam — with a trade surplus with the U.S. twice the size of Korea's — would need to import 181 million metric tons annually, more than double what the U.S. exported last year.
Other obstacles stand in the way. The Alaska LNG project is widely considered uneconomic. Both coal and renewable energy in Asia are so much cheaper that U.S. gas would need to cost less than half its current price to compete. Tariffs on Chinese steel could make building gas pipelines and LNG terminals more expensive, while longstanding delays to build new gas turbines mean new gas power projects may not come online until 2032. Meanwhile, a global glut in LNG will likely drive prices lower, making it even harder for countries to justify locking into long-term deals with the United States at current higher prices.
Committing to long-term U.S. LNG contracts could impact regional energy security at a time of growing geopolitical and market uncertainties, analysts said.
A core concern is over the long-term stability of the U.S. as a trading partner, said Overland. 'The U.S. is not a very predictable entity. And to rely on energy from there is a very risky proposition,' he said.
LNG only contributes to energy security when it's available and affordable, says Dario Kenner of Zero Carbon Analytics.
'That's the bit that they leave out ... But it's pretty important,' he said.
This was the concern during the recent potential disruptions to fuel shipments through the Strait of Hormuz and earlier during the war in Ukraine, when LNG cargoes originally destined for Asia were rerouted to Europe. Despite having contracts, Asian countries like Bangladesh and Sri Lanka were outbid by European buyers.
'Events in Europe, which can seem very far away, can have an impact on availability and prices in Asia,' Kenner said.
Asian countries can improve their energy security and make progress toward cutting carbon emissions by building more renewable energy, he said, noting there is vast room for that given that only about 1% of Southeast Asia's solar and wind potential is being used.
'There are genuine choices to meet rising electricity demand. It is not just having to build LNG,' he said.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles

2 hours ago
Iwaya, S. Korea's Cho Affirm Cooperation at 1st Meeting
News from Japan Politics Jul 29, 2025 21:36 (JST) Tokyo, July 29 (Jiji Press)--Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya and his new South Korean counterpart, Cho Hyun, met for the first time on Tuesday and agreed to communicate closely to steadily develop bilateral relations, which have been improving in recent years. They agreed to continue cooperation, including with the United States, in light of the deteriorating security environment surrounding the two Asian neighbors, such as the deepening military cooperation between North Korea and Russia. Cho is visiting Japan as his first foreign trip since taking office on July 21. During the meeting, held at the Japanese Foreign Ministry in Tokyo, Iwaya welcomed the fact that very close communication has been conducted between the two countries since the inauguration of the administration of South Korean President Lee Jae-myung. Cho responded that he wants to develop relations with Japan in a future-oriented manner based on the policy of practical diplomacy. [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.] Jiji Press

Nikkei Asia
2 hours ago
- Nikkei Asia
US smartphone market growth slows as India-made devices surge: report
An Apple Store in Mumbai. India has become the top manufacturing hub for smartphones sold in the U.S. for the first time, research firm Canalys says. © Reuters (Reuters) -- The United States smartphone market grew just 1% in the second quarter as vendors front-loaded device inventories amid tariff concerns, while supply chain negotiations between China and the United States boosted shipments of Indian-made phones, research firm Canalys said on Monday. The imposition of U.S. tariffs has prompted smartphone makers to reorganize their supply chains to avoid higher import costs and protect their margins. China, a major hub for electronics manufacturing, has been targeted by significant tariffs, pushing hardware makers to explore other Asian countries to maintain low production costs. In response to tariffs, Apple earlier this year sought to make most of its iPhones sold in the United States at factories in India. However, the move drew criticism from U.S. President Donald Trump, who threatened additional tariffs on the Cupertino-based company if it did not produce domestically. "India became the leading manufacturing hub for smartphones sold in the U.S. for the very first time in Q2 2025, largely driven by Apple's accelerated supply chain shift to India amid an uncertain trade landscape between the US and China," said Sanyam Chaurasia, Principal Analyst at Canalys. "The market only grew 1% despite vendors front-loading inventory, indicating tepid demand in an increasingly pressured economic environment and a widening gap between sell-in and sell-through," said Runar Bjorhovde, Senior Analyst at Canalys. The share of U.S. smartphone shipments assembled in China fell from 61% in the second quarter of 2024 to 25% in the second quarter of 2025. India picked up most of the decline, with Indian-made smartphone volume growing 240% year-on-year.


The Diplomat
2 hours ago
- The Diplomat
US Senator Urges SpaceX to Block Internet Access to Southeast Asian Scam Operations
A United States senator has urged SpaceX CEO Elon Musk to block Southeast Asia's transnational criminal syndicates from using the company's Starlink satellite internet service to run scams on American citizens. According to a report by Reuters, Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH) wrote to Musk to alert him to recent reports that Starlink is being used by online scamming compounds based in Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos. Such syndicates 'have apparently continued to use Starlink despite service rules permitting SpaceX to terminate access for fraudulent activity,' Hassan wrote in the letter to Musk, a copy of which was viewed by Reuters. She added that SpaceX 'has a responsibility to block criminals from using the service to target Americans.' She later followed this up with a post on social media that included a screenshot of the Reuters story and called publicly for the company to take action. In her letter to Musk, Hassan also cited statistics from the U.S. Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network showing that Southeast Asia-based scam operations have been responsible for defrauding U.S. citizens out of billions of dollars. Since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, mostly Chinese criminal syndicates have established a firm base of operations in mainland Southeast Asia, particularly in Cambodia and Myanmar. These factories of fraud have relied on a large indentured workforce – mostly ordinary people who have been attracted by promises of employment, only to be kept imprisoned and forced to operate various types of digital scams, often on pain of beatings, mistreatment, and torture, as detailed in a recent report by Amnesty International. In April, the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime estimated that scamming operations had generated close to $37 billion globally in 2023. Hassan is not wrong to claim that Starlink has facilitated such operations, albeit unwittingly. The remote internet service has allowed crime groups to set up online scamming operations in remote parts of the region, particularly in peripheral parts of Myanmar run by rebel groups. Internet is widely available in most regions, but Starlink units provide a portable alternative that has allowed scam operations to relocate swiftly in response to crackdowns by the region's governments. In February, Thailand's government cut internet access, along with power connections and fuel supplies, to three regions of neighboring Myanmar in an effort to shut down the online scamming centers that had been established there. However, as one observer noted on X yesterday, any crackdown on Starlink operations in Myanmar might also imperil their use by Burmese civil society organizations and political groups resisting the rule of the military junta in Naypyidaw. These groups have used satellite internet services to circumvent the strict internet controls and widespread mobile phone blackouts imposed by the junta since it took power in a coup in February 2021. According to a report published in Frontier Myanmar in March, 'Opposition groups increasingly rely on foreign-owned networks, such as satellite Internet services, to bypass government control and maintain connectivity.' It added, 'If Musk (or Trump) imposes broad restrictions on Starlink due to concerns about online scamming and illicit businesses, it could have unintended consequences – severing critical communication channels for activists and resistance groups while doing little to curb criminal enterprises.'