General – Politics
Japan, South Korea and other countries want to partner with the United States in a gigantic natural gas pipeline in Alaska, U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday, claiming they would invest trillions of dollars each.
Trump said in an address to the U.S. Congress that the pipeline would be one of the largest in the world.
South Korea’s industry ministry said Minister Ahn Duk-geun discussed the project with U.S. officials during his visit to Washington last week, but no specific details have been decided.
“We will actively engage in discussions with the United States moving forward as it is a matter of mutual interest of the two countries,” an industry ministry spokesperson said after Trump’s remarks.
Earlier on Tuesday, Ahn said the United States had asked South Korea and other countries if they are interested in participating in the Alaskan liquefied natural gas project.
He said Seoul and Washington had agreed to establish a working-level group to discuss the pipeline, energy, shipbuilding, tariffs and non-tariff barriers.
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said expanding American gas, bioethanol and ammonia imports would meet the national interests of both Japan and the U.S. as it would stabilize Japan’s energy supply while reducing the U.S. trade deficit.
“We will carefully examine its technical possibilities and profitability from the perspective of whether it would contribute to Japan’s interest,” Ishiba said.
In the address to Congress, Trump highlighted his tariff plans and said it was now the turn of the United States to use tariffs against other countries as they had against the United States. He said he would impose reciprocal tariffs on April 2.
The co-chair of the White House National Energy Dominance Council Doug Burgum said the 800-mile LNG gas pipeline would allow the United States to sell energy to its allies and raise money for the U.S. Treasury.
While the Alaska LNG proposal faces cost and logistical hurdles, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and others are buying into the idea of increasing U.S. gas imports more broadly.
