Taiwan Eyes Alaskan LNG to Ease Trade Imbalance with U.S.

In an effort to reduce the trade imbalance with the United States and avoid tariffs, the economy ministry stated that Taiwan is "quite interested" in natural gas from Alaska and will keep evaluating the viability of purchases.

In a significant step in his campaign to restructure international trade agreements in ways he believes will benefit America, US President Donald Trump announced that he intends to declare reciprocal tariffs on other economies by this week.

Due to the demand for high-tech goods like semiconductors, Taiwan's exports to the US reached a record US$111.4 billion last year, resulting in a significant trade surplus with the US that increased by 83%.

Taiwan's economy ministry said in a statement that the state-run energy company CPC is "indeed quite interested in Alaska's natural gas and will continue to assess the feasibility and is also willing to make additional purchases".

About 10% of Taiwan's natural gas supply comes from US imports, with the majority coming from Australia and Qatar. Under a 25-year agreement with Cheniere Energy, which was struck in 2018, just before then-Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen's visit to the US, CPC started receiving liquefied natural gas shipments from the US company in 2021.

Following discussions with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, Trump said on Friday that Japan will soon start buying a record amount of US liquefied natural gas.