Grim days ahead for US LNG sector as market shutout looms

China's move to raise tariffs on liquefied natural gas imports from the United States will crimp shipments to the world's fastest growing importer of the fuel and hurt US companies, experts said.

Despite surging demand for natural gas in China, the higher tariffs will have a limited impact on the domestic market but hurt the US LNG export sector badly, according to the resource and environment research center of Sinolink Securities.

China imported 54 million metric tons of LNG in 2018, a year-on-year increase of 42 percent. LNG imports from the US stood at 2.1 million tons, accounting for 4 percent of the total, it said.