Sept. 22 (UPI) — U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Tuesday that the Trump administration is looking into whether a diesel export ban would help surging diesel prices in the United States.
“We’re examining whether it’s feasible in terms of the overall refining capacity and whether a full or partial ban would work,” Bessent said at a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the United Nations in New York City.
Asked if he would endorse a ban, which other Republicans have called for, Trump said Tuesday that he has called for the measure as well.
“I said let’s not send out the diesel,” he said. “We make a lot of diesel.”
The United States is experiencing record high prices for diesel, with the fuel’s price soaring to an average of $6.53 per gallon Monday, according to AAA. U.S. refiners have escalated diesel exports as refineries in Russia and the Middle East deal with attacks and transportation issuescontinue.
Trump said the decision on a ban would be “fast, one way or another.”
Economists and energy experts said that a diesel export ban would could lower U.S. prices in the short term but would eventually backfire and lead to higher prices globally, including in the United States, Axios reported.
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, is one of the Republican lawmakers calling for a diesel export ban as prices climb and the November midterm elections approach. Others, including Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, called it a “gimmick.”
Mike Sommers, American Petroleum Institute CEO, said a ban would “only compound the problem” and eventually hurt consumers.
“The answer is more supply and more flexibility — not new restrictions that risk making a difficult situation worse,” Sommers said, Axios reported.
Source: U.S. News
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