Diesel prices in the United States have reached unprecedented levels due to supply disruptions caused by the ongoing war in Iran, prompting Washington to consider a temporary ban on diesel exports. President Donald Trump raised the possibility during a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in New York, suggesting that retaining domestically produced diesel could help lower costs for American consumers.
“I’ve said let’s not send out the diesel—we make a lot of diesel,” Trump stated. “That could have a little bit of an effect on regular automobile gasoline because when you do that, you know, it’s a sort of a flow.”
I worry about the collateral damage to America’s trade reputation. We can’t just flip a switch on global energy flows.
This sounds like a quick political fix rather than real economic policy. Good luck lowering prices with supply constraints.
Wait, does diesel really affect my regular car gas? I thought those were separate markets entirely?
Banning exports usually just spikes global prices, hurting allies we claim to support. Poor strategy all around.