As Biden’s inauguration approaches, Wood Mackenzie experts share how his administration could impact trade, climate change goals, and changes to the energy sector in Asia Pacific.

Yanting Zhou, Senior Economist, said: “While we believe that the potential for further economic decoupling between China and the US still exists under a Biden administration, a less confrontational President may reduce this risk. Trade will remain the number one policy focus for US-China relationships and our assumption is that the January 2020 Phase 1 trade deal will broadly remain in place, despite the agreement looking difficult to achieve.

“Amendments and subsequent agreements are likely, though none will be easy to conclude. Throughout the election campaign, Biden maintained that the US lost more than it gained in the US-China trade war as higher tariffs have raised the cost of goods for US households. Efforts to shorten supply chains will continue, as will China’s effort to strengthen its ties with Asia and Europe.

“Therefore, we believe that the trade relationship will remain fractious and volumes between the two countries are likely to fall gradually.”

Sushant Gupta, Research Director, said: “China’s Phase 1 trade deal commitment to purchase an additional US$52.4 billion of energy from the US by end-2021 looks very challenging. Lower oil prices, reduced US crude production and limited recovery in crude processing in China are all factors.

“Crude imports from the US ramped up in 2020 to about 350,000 barrels per day (b/d) on average, but still way below the required amount of more than 1.5 million b/d to meet the deal. China’s temporary lifting of the LNG import tariff has helped increase volumes, but by nowhere near enough to fill the gap left by reduced crude imports.”

Gavin Thompson, Vice Chairman, said: “We can expect both collaboration and competition on tackling climate change. Biden is expected to announce that the US will re-join the Paris Agreement on Day 1 of this presidency, along with ambitious plans to deliver a pathway to net-zero emission by 2050. However, the latter will require collaboration with China, particularly to bring others onboard. But at the same time, China and the US will increasingly compete to be the global leader in tackling climate change, with both seeking to expand control over low/zero carbon technology.”

Prakash Sharma, Research Director, said: “The Biden presidency bringing the US back in to the Paris Agreement takes care of a lingering uncertainty in energy markets. In Asia, energy companies and investors can breathe a sigh of relief and plan strategies accordingly.

“With the US back in the Agreement, we can expect a surge in net-zero 2050 policy announcements. If US Majors such as ExxonMobil and Chevron also raise their climate ambitions in response, then Asian NOCs like CNOOC, PTT, ONGC etc., will come under pressure to do more. This could lead to a race in securing resources for the clean energy sector including semi-conductors, battery metals, renewables supply chains.

“In the short-term however, commodity prices could become more volatile as economies return to growth and energy demand recovers. Impact from inflation and foreign exchange is possible depending on how Biden funds his proposed US$1.9 trillion stimulus. If it comes from drawing down past inflows to Asia, price volatility could increase.”

Copyright © acrofan All Right Reserved