China has suspended all imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the United States for over ten weeks, effectively cutting off trade in the sector as new tariffs make American gas unviable in the Chinese market.
According to Financial Times shipping data, the last recorded LNG shipment from the US—a 69,000-tonne tanker from Corpus Christi, Texas—arrived in China’s Fujian province on 6 February. A second shipment bound for China was diverted to Bangladesh after failing to dock before a 15% tariff came into effect on 10 February. That duty has since been raised to 49%, effectively pricing US LNG out of China.
“There will be long-term consequences,” said Anne-Sophie Corbeau of Columbia University’s Centre on Global Energy Policy. “I do not think Chinese LNG importers will ever contract any new US LNG.”
The current freeze mirrors a similar halt during US President Donald Trump’s first term, which lasted over a year. Analysts warn the renewed stoppage could impact the viability of large LNG infrastructure projects in the US and Mexico, particularly those relying on Chinese investment and long-term contracts.
The trade rift has further driven China to pivot toward Russian energy sources. “I know for sure that there are a lot of buyers. So many buyers are asking the embassy to help establish contacts with Russian suppliers,” said Zhang Hanhui, China’s ambassador to Russia.
Russia has now become China’s third-largest LNG supplier after Australia and Qatar. Talks are ongoing over the Power of Siberia 2 pipeline, which would strengthen this energy alliance.
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Chinese importers began reselling US LNG cargoes to Europe, where prices were more attractive. US LNG accounted for just 6% of China’s LNG imports in 2024, down from 11% in 2021.
Gillian Boccara, analyst at Kpler, said the short-term outlook for renewed LNG trade is bleak. “The last time this happened, there was a complete hiatus until the Chinese authorities granted waivers to companies, but that was at a time when gas demand was booming. Now we are looking at lower economic growth, and we think the Chinese can withstand the loss of these cargoes for quite a long time.”
Richard Bronze at Energy Aspects expects global trade flows to be reshuffled as a result. “With tariffs rising to the level where they are an effective embargo, we will see a reshuffling of trade flows,” he said. “We also expect Asia demand to fall by 5–10 million tonnes as a whole. That should bring gas prices down a bit in Europe.”
