Taiwan has signed a partnership with the Alaska Gasline Development Corporation (AGDC) on a $44 billion liquefied natural gas (LNG) project, a strategic move that could strengthen its position in trade negotiations with the United States—while also increasing pressure on South Korea to follow suit.
The state-owned CPC Corporation and AGDC signed a letter of intent on Thursday to purchase LNG and explore potential investment in the massive project, Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs confirmed to the Taipei Times. However, the ministry did not disclose CPC’s financial commitments.
A High-Stakes Energy Investment
The 1,300-kilometer (807-mile) pipeline system will transport natural gas from Alaska’s North Slope, with the capacity to export up to 20 million tons of LNG annually by 2030. Taiwan’s deal was signed in Taipei as an AGDC delegation, accompanied by Glenfarne Group—the project’s developer—embarked on an Asia tour that includes stops in Korea, Japan, and Thailand to attract additional investments from U.S. allies.
Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy, part of the delegation, is set to meet South Korea’s Minister of Trade, Industry, and Energy, Ahn Duk-geun, on Monday during a two-day visit to Seoul.
U.S. Push for Asian LNG Buyers
Former U.S. President Donald Trump has been aggressively promoting the Alaska LNG project, urging Asian allies to increase LNG imports from the United States to address trade imbalances.
“My administration is working on a gigantic natural gas pipeline in Alaska, among the largest in the world, where Japan, South Korea, and other nations want to be our partners, with investments of trillions of dollars each,” Trump stated on March 4.
Japan has already signaled interest in purchasing LNG from the project. Following a Feb. 7 summit in Washington, Trump announced that Japan would begin importing record amounts of U.S. LNG and that both nations were exploring a joint venture for Alaskan energy imports.
South Korea’s Trade Dilemma
With an April 2 deadline for new reciprocal U.S. tariffs looming, South Korea has been working to strengthen its trade position. Bloomberg reported that Trump is expected to unveil “targeted reciprocal tariffs” affecting multiple nations, including Korea, Japan, Canada, Mexico, and the European Union.
Ahn recently concluded a two-day visit to Washington, where he met U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to advocate for favorable tariff treatment for Korea, citing the deep industrial ties between the two economies.
“It appears most nations won’t be able to avoid tariffs,” Ahn said during a press conference in Washington. However, he emphasized that “negotiating U.S. tariff policies is not a single-round match.”
With Taiwan now committed to the Alaska LNG project and Japan signaling interest, South Korea faces increasing pressure to secure its own stake in the venture to maintain its competitive position in energy trade and geopolitical negotiations.