Grassley presses Trump for diesel export embargo as pump prices surge
The Iowa senator likens his proposal to the soybean and wheat embargoes of the 1970s, as diesel prices hit record highs and the White House weighs its options
Published
Senator Chuck Grassley is calling on President Trump to impose an embargo on diesel exports, arguing that shipping fuel abroad while Americans pay record prices at the pump no longer makes sense.
Grassley compared his proposal to the embargoes the United States placed on soybean and wheat exports in the 1970s, according to KMA News. Diesel prices in his home state of Iowa reached $6.12 a gallon on Wednesday, up from $3.51 a year earlier, Triple-A data cited by KMA News showed. Nationally, diesel hit an all-time high of $6.20 a gallon on Monday, September 14, according to Hoodline.
US diesel exports hit a record in late July, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Senate Majority Leader John Thune has said he is open to exploring an export ban, and other lawmakers besides Grassley have floated similar proposals, Energy News Beat reported. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum told the G20 energy summit that a fuel export ban risks retaliation and would not lower record diesel and gasoline prices, according to Hoodline.
A White House official has said the pending Russia sanctions bill would give Trump discretion to impose tariffs of up to 100% on buyers of Russian oil and gas, including India and China. White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers said Trump remains committed to what she called American energy dominance and that prices would fall back to pre-conflict levels as the US maintains control of the Strait of Hormuz, Axios reported. SoFi chief market strategist Liz Thomas put the odds of a diesel export ban being announced before the midterms as high, while Rapidan Energy Group put the odds at 35%, Axios reported. Grassley's call fits into Trump's broader posture on energy and trade and his stated view that the war in Ukraine has driven up diesel prices. An embargo would tighten domestic fuel supply and could pull prices down, aligning with that stance, though it remains unclear whether Trump will act on the idea.