Trump wants Europe to pay more for gas, while the EU wants to spend less: Politico reveals details
Kyiv • UNN
The European Union plans to reduce gas procurement targets, ignoring US demands for $350 billion in imports. This decision was made against the backdrop of economic problems and Trump's tariffs.
The European Union plans to cut natural gas procurement targets - even as US President Donald Trump insists that buying more gas is the only way to end his trade war, Politico reports, UNN writes.
Details
On Tuesday, EU countries put forward plans to ease mandatory storage replenishment targets ahead of winter - an attempt to pay less for supplies, four diplomats told the publication.
The move, it is stated, ignored the White House's demands that the EU spend a whopping $350 billion on American gas to address the alleged imbalance in transatlantic trade. But, the publication writes, "Trump has issued this dictate before, only to effectively ignore European attempts to strike a deal and still impose tariffs." Now these tariffs are exacerbating economic concerns, prompting Europe to explore cost savings on energy, the publication points out.
Seven countries - France, Germany, Italy, Austria, Hungary, Slovakia and the Netherlands - led the move to limit gas procurement targets, advocating for a reduction in the storage target from 90 percent of capacity to 80 percent under certain circumstances. They say that the higher figure forces the EU to buy huge volumes of gas, much of which is from the US, at a time when it is most expensive.
"In these turbulent times and [amid] the ongoing struggle for competitiveness, it would, of course, be a better solution [to have more flexibility] than simply adhering to current targets," Lithuanian Energy Minister Žygimantas Vaičiūnas said in an interview.
A decline in demand from industry "could be one of the potential consequences" of Trump's tariffs, he added, which would objectively make it more difficult for the EU to buy more US LNG.
Europe has increasingly turned to American LNG since Russia invaded Ukraine three years ago and cut gas supplies to the continent.
This connection is expected to only strengthen in the coming months, as the EU tries to gradually abandon the remaining Russian energy ties and also needs to replace the gas that until recently came through Ukraine.
"The EU will have to buy more American gas to compensate for lost Russian supplies," said Laura Page, a leading market analyst at intelligence firm Kpler.
At the current rate of replenishment, Kpler data shows that EU storage facilities are likely to reach only 78 percent of their capacity by this winter.
Trump's tariffs, it is stated, are also prompting forecasts of a recession in industry, as EU exporters face a 20 percent levy on all goods they send across the Atlantic. A decline in industrial activity means less need for fuel.
New US tariffs could approach "Great Depression levels," said Andreas Schroeder, head of energy analytics at ICIS. And tariffs, Schroeder added, "will have widespread long-term consequences for European energy markets."
However, in recent weeks, EU officials have been in negotiations in Washington, trying to reach an agreement to buy more LNG, but these attempts have led nowhere.
Trump's demand to buy $350 billion worth of energy, voiced on Monday evening, also goes far beyond a realistic negotiating position, the publication writes.
"As for $350 billion, what is important is that energy contracts are concluded on the basis of demand and price, and these factors fluctuate," said Anna-Kaisa Itkonen, spokeswoman for the European Commission.
