Taiwan is considering the purchase of natural gas from Alaska as part of its strategy to reduce its large trade surplus with the US and head off tariffs, according to Reuters.

Taiwan’s trade surplus with the United States surged by 83% last year, reaching a record $111.4 billion in exports, largely driven by high-tech products such as semiconductors.

US President Donald Trump said on Friday he plans to announce reciprocal tariffs on many economies by this week, as Reuters reported.

Taiwan’s state-run energy company, CPC is quite interested in Alaska’s natural gas and will continue to assess the feasibility and is also willing to make additional purchases, according to Taiwan economy ministry.

The ministry highlighted the short shipping distance from Alaska as a key advantage, although it did not provide further details.

Currently, most of Taiwan’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports come from Australia and Qatar, with US imports accounting for around 10% of supplies.

Taiwan’s official Central News Agency reported on Sunday that CPC is in discussions with an unnamed Alaskan company in the hope of reducing the trade surplus with the US.

The economy ministry also announced plans to send a delegation to Washington to discuss tariff issues. The delegation will be led by Deputy Economy Minister Cynthia Kiang and Chen Pei-li, deputy director general of the ministry’s Industrial Development Administration.