Tariff

Booming U.S. oil and natural gas production has exerted a “moderating” influence on the trade deficit and set the country on track to become a net oil exporter for the first time in decades, according to new research.

The Australian company interested in building a liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal adjacent to the Calcasieu Ship Channel in Lake Charles, LA, said it will delay a final investment decision (FID) until the first half of 2019, citing the ongoing Sino-U.S. trade war.

A new trade deal between the United States, Canada and Mexico is expected to have a modest impact on the oil and gas industry, and reduced uncertainty between the trading partners could lead to an eventual lifting of tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, according to analysts. However, they warned the ongoing trade dispute with China could worsen.

China's decision to enact a 10% tariff on U.S. liquefied natural gas is unlikely to slow exports in the near term, analysts said, and a "second wave" of domestic export projects could find buyers elsewhere, especially in Europe and Asia.

Less than 24 hours after President Trump late Monday announced tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese products, Beijing responded in kind with $60 billion worth of taxes on American goods, including a 10% tariff on liquefied natural gas (LNG), as the Sino-U.S. trade war continued to escalate.

FERC last Friday approved changes proposed by Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Co. LLC (Transco) for a tariff establishing a trading pool in Alabama and changes to boost its no-notice firm transportation service.

As the oil and gas industry grapples with tariffs on imported steel and a byzantine process for bypassing them, the Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA) urged the Trump administration to “understand and address” the unintended consequences of both actions, especially the increased burden on the industry’s small businesses.

After weeks of arduous renegotiations in an attempt to upend the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which bound together the economies of the United States, Mexico and Canada, President Trump on Monday declared victory and said he had a new trade agreement on the table with Mexico.

Despite the resumption of low-level Sino-U.S. trade talks in Washington, China on Thursday imposed a 25% tariff on a range of American-made goods valued at $16 billion, including coal and petroleum products, in retaliation for the Trump administration levying a tariff of similar size and scope on the same day.