Tsvetana Paraskova
Tsvetana is a writer for Oilprice.com with over a decade of experience writing for news outlets such as iNVEZZ and SeeNews.
By Tsvetana Paraskova – Feb 06, 2025, 8:30 AM CST
Traders are largely expected to ask China for waivers over the Chinese tariff on U.S. energy imports for oil cargoes that are already traveling to China or have been booked, Reuters reported on Thursday, quoting trade sources.
China announced earlier this week tariffs on U.S. energy, slapping a 10% levy on imports of crude oil from the United States and 15% of American LNG, effective February 10. The tariff announcement followed the U.S. tariff of 10% on all imports from China which took effect on February 4.
Now traders with cargoes already booked are likely to apply for waivers from China, according to Reuters’s sources.
But it would be more difficult for trading companies to obtain waivers for new bookings from now on, they added.
Four oil tankers are currently carrying U.S. crude to China, with estimated arrival dates between February 11 and April 1, according to data from LSEG and Kpler.
At least eight more oil cargoes have been already booked by traders including Vitol and Gunvor and the trading arms of ExxonMobil, Occidental, and TotalEnergies, per the data cited by Reuters.
PetroChina is also currently shipping two cargoes of U.S. LNG and these are expected to arrive at Chinese terminals this week and next.
Traders will also be looking to swap cargoes by sending more U.S. crude and LNG previously bound for China to other north Asian buyers such as Japan and South Korea, according to analysts and traders.
China’s retaliatory tariffs on imports of U.S. crude oil, LNG, and coal will have a limited effect on Chinese purchases as Beijing’s oil and gas imports from the United States were modest, at best, even before the renewed trade war.
But the Chinese tariffs on U.S. energy have the potential to disrupt global commodity trade flows with impacts on other regional markets and on energy prices, analysts say.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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Tsvetana Paraskova
Tsvetana is a writer for Oilprice.com with over a decade of experience writing for news outlets such as iNVEZZ and SeeNews.