US energy supplies to Asia declined under Trump's presidency

According to Reuters, Asian countries have not started buying more US energy despite the possibility of reducing the trade imbalance between the region and the United States by increasing oil and gas imports. Earlier, this very imbalance was cited by Donald Trump as one of the reasons for imposing high import duties on many of the country's trading partners.

According to Kpler data, US energy imports to Asia have actually declined in the four full months since Trump returned to the White House compared to the same period last year.

US crude oil imports from the US to Asia fell to 1.53 million barrels per day from February through May, down from last year's 1.55 million. US LNG shipments to the region totaled 4.78 million tons over the same period. That's down 40% compared to 8.04 million tons delivered over the same four months last year.

Still, as Reuters noted, the broader supply picture suggests that some Asian countries may be in the early stages of ramping up US energy imports. For example, the agency cited a 78,000 bpd year-over-year increase in oil shipments to India between February and May.