Bessent weighs possible ban on diesel exports as prices hit record
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is examining whether the US could restrict diesel exports, a day after the White House said no such move was under consideration.
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Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is examining a potential ban on diesel exports and whether it could work in practice, according to people familiar with the matter. No decision or timeline has been set.
The increase has fed calls in Congress to curb exports. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said this month he is open to exploring a ban, Forbes reported. Senator Chuck Grassley has called for an embargo, saying high prices are hurting farm income, and Representative Tim Burchett has introduced legislation to ban diesel exports outright, CNN reported. Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry has called for a 90-day ban.
Not everyone in the administration agrees. A White House official told CNN on Monday that no export ban or restrictions were under consideration. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said he is "not at all confident" a ban would lower prices, warning it could hurt Americans who depend on imported fuel. The US exported about 1.8 million barrels a day of diesel and similar fuels last month, plus another 440,000 barrels a day of jet fuel, The National reported. Energy experts point to the 1975 crude oil export ban as a precedent that failed to achieve its aim, according to Forbes.
The timing follows Bessent's meeting with China's Vice Premier He Lifeng at JPMorgan, which he described as "fulsome" and which was meant to set the stage for a summit between President Trump and President Xi. That meeting capped weeks of high-level contact between the two countries on trade and technology. Diesel markets are also being squeezed from abroad: Russia is expected to extend its own export curbs past the end of September, tightening seaborne supply and pushing Europe's diesel premium over crude to roughly $84 a barrel, according to Briefs.co. Bessent's review sits inside a broader push on trade and industrial policy rather than a signal of imminent action, and the split between his department and the White House leaves investors with no clear sense of whether, or when, any restriction could arrive.