Influential Republicans Push Trump to Ban US Diesel Exports
Prominent Republican lawmakers from farm states are urging President Trump to ban diesel exports as fuel prices hit record highs ahead of midterm elections. The White House has so far dismissed such restrictions as ineffective.
A group of influential Republican members of Congress representing US agricultural states is calling on President Donald Trump to impose a ban on diesel fuel exports, as soaring prices squeeze farmers and truckers ahead of the midterm elections.
Since the war with Iran began in February and amid the ongoing war in Ukraine, US diesel prices have climbed to $6.5 per gallon, surpassing the previous record set in 2022, the Financial Times reported. On Monday, several prominent Republicans from both chambers of Congress representing farm states called for an export ban along with other measures to bring fuel prices down. Iowa Representative Mariannette Miller-Meeks said record export volumes must be halted until every farmer, trucker and family can afford to fill up their tank.
The rapid price increase ahead of the elections has become a political liability for the Republican Party, which controls both the White House and Congress — polls show voters' approval of Trump's handling of the economy and inflation has deteriorated significantly.
According to the Financial Times, a US diesel export ban could deliver an additional shock to Europe, one of the largest importers of American petroleum products; France and Portugal have recently seen waves of protests over record-high fuel prices. The US has not banned petroleum product exports since the 1970s, and lifted its crude oil export ban in 2015. The American oil lobby strongly opposes any restrictions, arguing that US diesel production is concentrated around the Gulf of Mexico while other parts of the country rely on imported fuel, meaning export limits would push up global diesel prices and hurt import-dependent US regions.
The US supplies 1.5 million barrels of diesel per day to the global market, out of roughly 8 million barrels shipped worldwide by sea daily. The White House has so far opposed export restrictions, viewing them as ineffective, though other measures taken to curb prices have failed to slow the increase. Consultancy Rapidan Energy estimates a 35% chance that the Trump administration will impose a diesel export ban.
