You Can’t LNG Your Way Out of a Trade Deficit

U.S. President Donald Trump insists that American buyers boost purchases of U.S. energy goods to reduce their large trade surpluses with America. Some traditional U.S. energy buyers, such as Japan, South Korea, and the EU, have signaled that they may be willing to buy more American oil, LNG, or coal to appease the President who has fixated on fixing the massive trade deficits America runs with most countries.

Higher energy imports from the trade partners could dent some of the U.S. trade deficits, but they will by no means fix or erase these. For…