EU eyes US gas in bid to thaw trade tensions with Trump

The EU is moving to revive a proposal to increase purchases of American liquefied natural gas (LNG), banking on US President Donald Trump’s temporary tariff freeze as a chance to reset trade talks.

According to three EU officials, the bloc plans to reopen negotiations with Washington to expand LNG imports, hoping to ease tensions over transatlantic trade imbalances, Caliber.Az reports via foreign media. 

A key part of the strategy includes consolidating gas demand across member states to enable larger, joint orders — a move aimed at satisfying US calls for greater energy exports while securing better pricing for Europe.

"These proposals have been on the table for a while, but we're hoping now there is an opportunity to make progress," one official said.

Trump, since taking office in November, has pushed the EU to buy more American oil and gas. He imposed 20 per cent tariffs on EU goods and demanded $350 billion in additional EU energy spending in the US — despite analysts noting the overall trade balance between the two remains fairly even.

A day later, Trump paused most global tariffs for 90 days, encouraging renewed talks. EU officials view this as a fresh opening to promote US LNG as an alternative to Russian supplies.

“In the future, we will be buying more gas from the U.S.,” said EU Energy Commissioner Dan Jørgensen, while stressing alignment with green goals.

Still, challenges remain. LNG is bought by private firms, and some nations report they're already importing at full capacity. Previous efforts to pool demand have also seen limited success.

With energy prices volatile and storage deadlines looming, EU leaders are treading carefully. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen warned that while retaliation is possible, "We want to give negotiations a chance."

By Naila Huseynova