China to Buy US LNG In Trade Deal: Media

China is to buy US gas as part of a trade deal expected to be signed late this month, various media reported March 4. China is to commit to buying $18bn of LNG from Cheniere, but no details such as the start date, were given, or why Cheniere was selected.

Cheniere is the operator of the biggest US export facilities, nearly all of its output being sold free on board on term capacity contracts to a number of Asian and European importers and traders, but some withheld for its own trading and to allow for maintenance outages.

According to a Reuters report, Trump administration officials have said they expect the two presidents to “close” a deal at a summit in coming weeks at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

A source briefed on the talks said that no dates for a summit had been determined, but that Beijing had reserved a 10-day window from around March 20 for a possible summit.

Another source familiar with the talks said that Washington and Beijing were close to agreement on non-enforcement issues, including China’s pledges to increase purchases of farm, energy and manufactured products, as well as six agreements on structural policy changes.

In an eight-month trade war, the US has imposed punitive tariffs on $250bn worth of imports from China, while Beijing has hit back with tariffs on $110bn worth of US goods, including LNG.