(Bloomberg) — South Korea is considering buying more oil and gas from the US to diversify its energy sources and also potentially head off the threat of President-elect Donald Trump’s proposed tariffs.
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The move would be aimed at reducing the trade surplus with the US and improving energy security, Minister of Trade Ahn Duk-geun told reporters in Seoul on Thursday. Policymakers are also weighing additional government support for companies so they can import more oil and gas from countries outside of the Middle East, he said.
South Korea relies heavily on exports to drive its economic growth, and the US is one of its top trading partners. Trump, meanwhile, has promised an array of protectionist policies, including universal tariffs, to slash a burgeoning US trade deficit with other nations.
“Other countries are all talking about how they need to ease the growing trade deficit under the Trump administration,” Ahn said. “We are pretty much in the same situation so we are thinking about increasing energy imports, and there’s also a need to diversify supplies to improve energy security.”
The world’s third-largest liquefied natural gas importer follows a number of other energy buyers looking to increase their purchase of US fossil fuels, including Vietnam, Taiwan and the EU.
The US is the world’s top exporter of LNG, with output slated to roughly double by the end of the decade, and is the biggest producer of oil.
–With assistance from Stephen Stapczynski.
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