Tuesday, October 23, 2018

German Chancellor Merkel 'Caves' To President Trump's Demand To Open Up Germany To US Gas Imports

© REUTERS / Jonathan Ernst

The Hill: Merkel moves to open up Germany to US gas imports after Trump's push: report

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is making a move to open up Germany's market to U.S. gas companies, following a lobbying push from President Trump, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Merkel told a group of lawmakers over breakfast in October that her government will co-finance a $576 million liquified natural gas (LNG) shipping terminal in northern Germany, the Journal reported, citing people familiar with the meeting.

The project had been stalled for years, but Trump has lobbied hard for Europe to increase LNG purchases from the U.S. while reducing their reliance on Russia.

Read more ....

Update: In Win for Trump, Merkel Changes Course on U.S. Gas Imports (The Wall Street Journal)

WNU Editor: German Chancellor Angela Merkel is saying the decision to do this were "strategic", and it had nothing to do with U.S. pressure. Russian media has a different take .... Merkel Opens Up Germany to US LNG, Yielding to Trump's Pressure – Reports (Sputnik). More here .... Merkel wants more US natural gas in Germany – WSJ (RT). As to what is my take .... Russian media is correct. There are national security reasons, but President Trump also wants Germany to lower its trade surplus with the U.S., and for the Germans this is one way to alleviate that pressure.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Why has Germany been so recalcitrant in adopting US LNG when it has adopted whole heartedly vastly more expensive wind and solar schemes? Why has Germany embraced deep dependence on Putin’s Russian gas supplies while kicking and screaming fighting Trumps vast LNG supplies? Whether it’s Japan, Germany, South Korea the obvious trade deal is to import as much US oil and gas as possible to have assured energy supplies immune from Middle East turmoil and lower trade tensions with the USA.

German conduct has been hostile at worst or short sighted at best.

Anonymous said...

I have to agree. Not Germany's best behaviour. But their population too is manipulated by anti American propaganda stemming from Russia. Been going on for decades, actually. Germany - especially east Germany - was always and still is heavily influenced by Russians. And with more and more Americans leaving the country (bases are being closed), they don't get the direct exposure to Americans they used to get. In big cities there are still American business men but total number of Americans in the country dropped significantly over the last decade. And east Block country citizens- now part of the EU - are even more indoctrinated and often blame the US first and believe what Putin tells them. Americans do a poor job on propaganda/positioning - something Russia heavily exploits. My advice to Americans:1) trump was 100% correct - Germans should buy gas from them not Russia 2) don't give up on the media/narrative front or Russia will keep exploiting it and move entire populations against you ..slowly but steadily. 3) come back to live here/show your own culture and be proud of it. You've got much to be proud of and Germans will listen...but they too are bombarded by lefties and their "always blame Americans" narrative. It's a global battle for opinions and you have to think long term