Cornyn calls ban a ‘gimmick’ as Republicans split on diesel policy
American Petroleum Institute CEO Mike Sommers said Tuesday that a proposed U.S. ban on diesel exports would “only compound the problem” and hurt consumers, sharpening industry opposition to a measure the Trump administration is actively weighing.
“The answer is more supply and more flexibility — not new restrictions that risk making a difficult situation worse,” Sommers said, according to Axios.
The API’s pushback comes as Republicans are divided over whether restricting diesel exports would ease record-high U.S. pump prices. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, is among the GOP lawmakers calling for a ban as prices climb ahead of the November midterm elections. Others in the party are pushing back. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, called the proposed restriction a “gimmick.”
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told reporters Tuesday that the administration is examining whether a ban is operationally viable. “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 President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the United Nations in New York.
Asked whether he would endorse a ban that some Republican lawmakers have called for, Trump said he has already called for the measure. “I said let’s not send out the diesel,” Trump said. “We make a lot of diesel.” He added that a decision would be “fast, one way or another.”
The national average diesel price reached $6.53 per gallon on Monday, according to AAA, a record. U.S. refiners have escalated diesel exports as refineries in Russia and the Middle East deal with attacks and transportation issues that have tightened global supply.
Economists and energy experts told Axios that a diesel export ban could lower U.S. prices in the short term but would eventually backfire and lead to higher prices globally, including in the United States.