Asian countries look to offset trade imbalance by buying more US energy

Trump wants Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan to join the $44 billion natural gas export project in Alaska, part of Washington’s broader push on trade and tariffs.

The project aims at transporting gas south from Alaska’s remote north via a $44 billion, 1,300-kilometrem (800-mile) pipeline, to be shipped as LNG to Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, bypassing the Panama Canal.

An Alaskan delegation visited Japan in late March to brief policymakers and meet possible backers of the project.

Japanese trading house Mitsubishi Corp may consider investing in the Alaska LNG project, though any decision will require careful review, Chief Executive Katsuya Nakanishi has said.