Unlock the White House Watch watch newsletter for free
Your guide on what Trump's second term for Washington, Business and the World means
The liquefied natural gas industry warned the Trump administration.
He warns that the rules published by the US trade representative Jamieson Greer on April 17 could harm $ 34 billion per year Export industry This is at the heart of the president's “energy domination” agenda, according to the letters of lobbying sent by the American Petroleum Institute to the Administration this week.
The new rules are part of American efforts to increase pressure on China on what Washington maintains being unfair commercial practices, while stimulating the national manufacturing of ships.
However, they caused an alarm among American exporters, who fear that they are considerably increasing the cost of shipping ships.
The LNG industry has already benefited from a period of three years in the implementation of the rules of the sector, which depends strongly on Chinese ships and abroad.
The USTR also allows LNG producers to gradually oppose the use of ships built and reported in the United States over a period of 22 years. The American authorities could always order the suspension of LNG export licenses if the terms of the new rules are not respected.
But the API warns in letters to American and inside American secretaries that it is impossible for LNG producers to comply with the rules.
There is currently no ship built by the United States capable of sending LNG and no excess capacity to American shipyards to build LNG carriers on the deadline of 2029, according to people informed of the content of the letters.
The API warns that the rules would compromise the ability of American producers to dominate the global LNG industry and the position of Cement America as global energy superpowers.
This action against industry could ensure that future American administrations become creative and use similar commercial instruments to suspend export licenses, the group supports.
The industry also requested the administration exempt the shipments of crude oil and refined products such as petrol and liquefied petroleum gas from maritime prices, noting that these costs would disrupt a chain of carefully balanced supply and reach the competitiveness of the industry.
Asked about the letter, the API told Financial Times that it included the need to limit discriminatory commercial practices from China and increase American shipbuilding but had concerns about the rules.
“We will continue to work with the USTR and the Ministry of Energy in support of achievable and sustainable policies who benefit consumers and advance the domination of American energy,” said Aaron Padilla, vice-president of the API of corporate policy, in a press release.
Charlie Riedl, Executive Director of the Center for LNG, an industry group, said the measures were likely to destabilize long -term contracts, increase costs for world buyers and threaten America's position as the main exporter of LNG.
“This is why we have urged the USTR to completely exempt LNG shipping and LNG carriers from this action,” he said.
The United States exceeded Australia in 2023 to become the largest exporter in the world, and last year shipped 11.9bn Cubic feet per day of LNG – Enough to meet the needs combined with the gas of Germany and France. The industry has ambitious plans to double exports by the end of the decade.
The new rules on Chinese construction ships, owned and exploited, have triggered a wave of lobbying by American industry, including farmers and other exporters, who warned that it would increase freight costs.
Under the rules, the United States will start to charge costs to ship owners and $ 50 operators per net tonne from 180 days, increasing for $ 30 per tonne in the following three years. Companies in the world being operated by ships built in Chinese would be billed a lower amount.
The oil and gas industry, which was a great donor of Trump's electoral campaign, has so far had considerable success to win concessions from the administration, including oil and gas imports in the United States excluded from prices.
