Trump efforts to help US coal undercut by export drop during trade war

FORT COLLINS, Colo (AP) — President Donald Trump’s efforts to help the U.S. coal industry at home are being undermined by falling sales abroad amid his trade war with China, new government reports show.

China has stopped importing U.S. coal, accounting for most of a 14% decline in U.S. coal exports so far this year, according to analysts and the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Trump’s meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping this week suggests trade progress. But whether it will include the U.S. coal industry is still uncertain.

“It’s hard to tell whether that’s just going to maintain the status quo or if that’s going to be an increase in exports of coal and soybeans to China,” coal analyst Seth Feaster with the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis said Friday.

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