London (CNN Business) Europe is making good on a promise to buy much more American natural gas as it seeks to ease transatlantic trade tension and reduce its reliance on Russian energy.

The European Union has imported roughly 8 billion cubic meters of liquid natural gas from the United States since July 2018, more than three times the amount purchased in the preceding two years.

The bloc committed at an energy summit in Brussels on Thursday to further purchases so long as the price is competitive.

The pledge appears calibrated to appease President Donald Trump , who has applied tariffs to steel and aluminum from the European Union and has threatened new taxes on cars made in the bloc.

Natural gas is one area where Europe and the United States have found common ground on trade.

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