LONDON, April 10. /TASS/. The European Union could increase liquified natural gas (LNG) imports from the United States in order to ease tensions with US President Donald Trump’s administration, European Commissioner for Energy and Housing Dan Jorgensen said in an interview with the Financial Times.
According to him, the EU’s determination to boost its renewable power capacity "did not preclude potential commitments to buy more US liquefied natural gas, as part of a response to Trump’s tariffs."
"There is potential for us to buy more LNG from the US but of course it needs to be on conditions that are also in line with our [green] transition," Jorgensen said.
In his view, renewable power was "essential" to bring down high energy prices and end the EU reliance on imports of Russian fossil fuels.
The European commissioner was also confident that the EU would be able to benefit from the market turmoil caused by the new US tariffs. "I think this crisis that the world economy is in right now will make it even more attractive for companies to seek safe havens in places where there is predictability and Europe is such a place," he noted, as cited by the Financial Times.
On April 2, Trump announced tariffs on imports from 185 countries and territories, including the European Union. On April 9, the Council of the EU approved the first package of tariffs on US goods, which will take effect on April 15. The move came in response to US tariffs on steel and aluminum. According to Bloomberg’s estimates, the tariffs approved by the European Union will "hit around 21 billion euros ($23.2 billion) of US goods."
On Wednesday, Trump announced a 90-day pause on tariffs for the countries that had demonstrated willingness to negotiate. However, baseline tariffs of 10% will remain in place.