Trump says China wants to buy US oil and LNG after Beijing talks

US President Donald Trump said China wants to buy oil, LNG and other goods from the US, speaking during a May 14 interview with Fox News following discussions with China's President Xi Jinping in Beijing.

There was no formal announcement of a trade deal between the countries during the US president's visit, which concluded May 15. But Trump's comments could heighten market expectations that world's biggest LNG buyer could resume imports from the world's biggest LNG supplier after more than a yearlong freeze.

Trump said China "agreed they want to buy oil from the United States," in an interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity, who asked if that extended to liquefied natural gas.

"Yeah, everything -- energy," Trump said. "It's the one thing they really need, energy. That's the one thing they have an insatiable appetite for, energy, and we have unlimited energy."

As it stands, China still applies a total 25% tariff on US LNG following earlier levies imposed by the US on Chinese goods, which remains the biggest obstacle to a revival of LNG trade between the two countries.

Readouts of the talks from both sides said the leaders discussed the benefits of expanded economic ties and trade. The White House said Xi "expressed interest in purchasing more American oil" to reduce China's dependence on the Strait of Hormuz.

Transits of the waterway remain choked off amid the war in the Middle East, severely disrupting global oil and LNG supplies and prompting buyers to consider alternative energy sources.

"China welcomes more mutually beneficial cooperation from the US," Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for China's embassy in Washington, said in a statement. "President Xi Jinping noted that the two countries should expand exchanges and cooperation in areas such as the economy and trade."

A resumption of US LNG exports to China would not likely impact prices or supply-demand balances significantly in the near-term, according to S&P Global Energy CERA LNG analysts. China's demand in 2026 has been low, with the country importing less than its full contract volumes.

"If they felt like they were artificially constraining themselves on gas supply and they needed to maintain that steady flow, they would continue importing it," CERA LNG analyst Ross Wyeno said. "At this point, China's demand is so weak, and they're really seeming to absorb the lost cargoes quite well."

LNG volumes

China is a major recipient of LNG sourced from Qatar, accounting for about 28% of the country's total LNG imports in 2025, according to China's customs data.

But China has also proven resilient to the LNG supply disruption into the third month of the war. China helped mitigate the supply shock in Asia by diverting its contracted volumes and staying out of the regional spot market, only to see a recent ramp-up in spot procurements by major Chinese buyers ahead of the peak summer demand season.

China could unilaterally resume imports of US LNG if it needed the volumes by reducing or removing its import tariff, which would not require a trade agreement, analysts said.

But a revival of the LNG trade between the countries could still provide a boost for US project developers if it leads to more contracting with China, Wyeno said.

Two US LNG cargoes underway in the Atlantic on May 15 were indicating a course for Tianjin, China, after loading earlier this month at Cheniere's Sabine Pass LNG terminal and Venture Global's Plaquemines LNG plant, both in Louisiana, according to S&P Global Commodities at Sea data. Both cargoes – the Umm Al Hanaya and the Idasah – were charted by QatarEnergy.

Either shipment could mark the first US LNG cargo to arrive in China since February 2025, after the US-China tariff dispute led China to suspend imports. Two previous US cargoes loaded in March had signaled Tianjin as their destination before later changing course.

Chinese companies hold about 21 million metric tons/year of US term contracts, of which 5.4 million mt/year have already started delivery, and another 8.7 million mt/year are scheduled to begin delivery between July and October, according to CERA data.

Before the trade conflict, the US was the fifth-largest LNG supplier to China, exporting about 4.2 million mt in 2024, which accounted for more than 5% of the country's total LNG imports that year, according to China's customs data.

US contracts covering 2026 total about 6.4 million mt, compared with about 19.9 million mt of Qatari contract volumes, CERA data showed.

Global LNG spot prices remain elevated and volatile amid the supply disruptions in the Middle East.

Platts, part of S&P Global Energy, assessed the June JKM benchmark price reflecting LNG delivered to Northeast Asia at $18.465/million British thermal units May 15, an increase of about 3% from the previous assessment and about 73% higher than prewar levels.