AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Executives from U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) companies Cheniere Energy and Tellurian on Tuesday said they view the trade dispute between China and the United States as temporary, with no major impact on their ability to sell LNG.

China retaliated on Monday against Washington’s tariffs by raising its own duty on U.S. LNG to 25% from 10%.

Cheniere is the top U.S. LNG producer with two large export terminals in Texas and Louisiana. Most of its LNG is sold under long-term contracts signed several years ago -- with no current Chinese buyers.

“China is a big part of demand growth but other markets are important,” Cheniere’s senior vice president for strategy, Andrew Walker, told Reuters at an LNG conference in Amsterdam.

“India will be the rising start of Southeast Asia. Europe fundamentally needs more LNG in the mix,” he said.

A Tellurian executive said he thought the escalation of the trade spat, which involve billions of dollars worth of goods other than LNG, was a short-term issue.

Tellurian is one of a dozen companies planning to build LNG export plants like Cheniere’s.

Before construction, Tellurian needs to find long-term buyers, whose commitments will underpin the financing. Tellurian plans to take a final investment decision this year.