China has halted all imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the United States for more than ten weeks
According to the Financial Times, shipping data revealed that no LNG shipments have taken place between the two nations since a 69,000-tonne tanker from Corpus Christi, Texas, arrived in China’s Fujian province on 6 February.
A second vessel destined for China was redirected to Bangladesh after it failed to arrive before Beijing imposed a 15 per cent tariff on US LNG on 10 February.
The tariff has now been raised to 49 per cent, effectively pricing US gas out of the Chinese market.
The current freeze on US LNG mirrors a similar halt during United States President Donald Trump’s first term, which lasted over a year.