Bloomberg: China likely received a tanker with American liquefied gas for the first time in over a year

A US tanker carrying liquefied natural gas has arrived at a Chinese terminal, potentially marking Chinaʼs first shipment of US LNG since tariffs were imposed more than a year ago.

Bloomberg writes about this.

According to a service that tracks ships, the gas carrier Al Fatʼh, which loaded at the Venture Global Plaquemines plant in Louisiana in June, docked at the port of Yangpu in southern China on July 16.

If the cargo is unloaded at the port, it will be the first delivery of American LNG to China since trade tensions between the countries escalated in February 2025, Bloomberg reports.

Trumpʼs tariffs against China

In February 2025, Trump imposed tariffs on imports from Canada, Mexico, and China, citing the “threats posed by illegal immigrants and drugs”. For China, the tariffs were 10%. At the last minute, Trump postponed the tariffs against Canada and Mexico, but the tariffs on Chinese goods went into effect.

In response, China reported the introduction of tariffs against American goods — 15% on American coal and liquefied gas and 10% on oil and agricultural machinery from the United States.

On April 2, 2025, the US president reported that he would impose tariffs on goods from other countries. The new tariffs affected more than 180 countries and territories. As early as April 9, Trump postponed the tariffs for all but China, which received the highest tariffs of 145%, while most countries were subject to a base rate of 10%.

In mid-April 2025, Trump threatened to impose 245% tariffs on Chinese goods. In response, China raised tariffs on all American goods from 84% to 125%. The US and Chinese governments announced that they would reduce each otherʼs tariffs for 90 days starting on May 14. In August 2025, the countries postponed the introduction of these new tariffs for another 90 days.

On May 14,Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping met in Beijing for the first time since 2025. After that, in June, China reported sanctions on a number of American companies working in the defense, aerospace and resource extraction sectors. Before that, they met in October 2025 on the sidelines of an international summit in South Korea, where they agreed on a trade deal.

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