Trump Says He's 'Very Seriously' Considering a US Diesel Export Ban
With diesel at a record ~$6.53/gallon, Trump and top officials weigh halting exports as farm-state lawmakers push, while industry warns of a backfire.
Part of a larger narrative
Iran War Energy Crisis
- Trump administration finalizes rollback of US fuel economy standards
- Trump Says He's 'Very Seriously' Considering a US Diesel Export Banyou are here
- White House Retreats From Diesel Export Ban, Pursues Voluntary Cuts
- Trump backs diesel export ban as US pump prices hit record highs
- Trump blames Ukraine for diesel spike; analysts point to Iran war
What to know
- US on-highway diesel hit a record near $6.53/gallon (over $8 in California), pushing farm-state Republicans to demand export limits during harvest season.
- Trump says he is 'very seriously' considering a ban but administration officials are split, with Energy Secretary Wright favoring voluntary refiner curbs over a formal ban.
- A ban would be the first major US petroleum export restriction since the 2015 repeal of the crude-oil export ban, and would need emergency legal authority (IEEPA) after the Supreme Court curbed Trump's tariff use of that law in February 2026.
- Critics, including oil executives and some energy officials, warn a ban could force refiners to cut runs, reducing gasoline supply too and cutting off allies like Brazil and Britain that depend on US diesel.
The dispute Whether an export ban would actually push down diesel prices, as export-ban supporters argue, or instead force refiners to cut runs and create broader fuel shortages, as critics and much of the Reddit thread contend. · positions read across 66 posts and comments
A ban would backfire: refiners would hit storage limits and cut overall production, worsening shortages of diesel and gasoline alike.
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“Companies would also stop producing diesel after a couple weeks once storage tanks reach capacity since they can no longer ship out the diesel, and would stop ALL refining, leading to shortages of ALL petroleum products, including regular…”
Icy-Lobster-203 · reddit ↗
Domestic distribution logistics (Jones Act, lack of pipelines/infrastructure) make any 'keep it here' fix impractical.
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“The jones act means it is basically impossible to ship it between domestic ports. So the gulf coast refineries rapidly fill storage, and…”
discostu52 · reddit ↗
A ban is political theater aimed at the midterms rather than a real fix, and ordinary consumers will still bear the cost.
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“The export ban wont even be a bandaid. Prices will stay the same and will rise internationally. Companies will sell a little and stockpile a lot waiting for the ban to end to sell for massive profits”
PM_ME__YOUR_HOOTERS · reddit ↗
Supply and demand means an export ban would still lower domestic prices, at least temporarily, and industry objections are self-interested.
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“The industry is biased. Of course they are going to mouth off how an export ban won't help. But the law of supply and demand dictates that diesel prices would come down temporarily. Again, Trump's oil buddies are going to be butt hurt…”
IamInternationalBig · reddit ↗
Donald Trump US President
Scott Bessent Treasury Secretary
Chris Wright Energy Secretary
Kevin Hassett National Economic Council Director
Jamieson Greer US Trade Representative
How it unfolded 5 developments, newest first · click a bar or a number to jump articlespostscomments
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Online debate erupts over whether a ban would backfire
Commenters on a Reddit thread about the Bloomberg report argued over whether a ban would lower prices or instead force refiners to cut runs and create regional shortages, citing storage capacity limits and Jones Act restrictions on shipping fuel between US coasts.
“Despite having lots of diesel, the way it is moved around the US depends on location. Much of the northeast is reliant on imports of diesel because pipelines don't go there.”
— Icy-Lobster-203 -
first by politico.eu, 1d ago · also Indian Express, MarketWatch, Politico, Semafor, Bloomberg, Yahoo Finance +6
11 more headlines
- What a US diesel export ban could mean for energy markets globally, and India Indian Express · 1d ago
- How a U.S. diesel export ban would play out, according to Goldman Sachs MarketWatch · 21h ago
- Trump's threat to ban diesel exports a ‘significant concern’ for UK Politico · 15h ago
- Trump threatens diesel export ban again Semafor · 15h ago
- Trump Says He's ‘Very Seriously’ Looking at Diesel Export Ban Bloomberg · 15h ago
- What a US diesel export ban could mean for you BBC Business · 13h ago
- Trump is eyeing an export ban on U.S. diesel. It could cause gas prices to soar, experts warn. cbsnews.com · 11h ago
- Trump ‘very seriously’ considering diesel export ban as global supply crunch worsens CNBC · 11h ago
- These Republicans Have Called on Trump to Ban U.S. Diesel Exports The New York Times · 11h ago
- What Trump's potential US diesel export ban could mean for you Mastodon · 2m ago
- UK tries to stop Trump's diesel export ban Mastodon · 2m ago
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US President Donald Trump says that the White House is still considering a diesel export ban, per CNBC
2 more of the top 3 · 65 posts in this stretch
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⚡ NEWS US Proposal for Diesel Export Ban The US government has proposed a ban on diesel exports aimed at protecting domestic consumers from rising fuel costs. This policy shift could trigger significant economic repercussions both within the United States and globally, affecting energy markets and trade dynamics. 📰 https://www…
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I thought we were having a productive discussion and not acting like children. "No you stop talking" lol. I thought you said Japan and China didn't have spikes in inflation? You're just trying to semantic-split it away from the pandemic and acting like a spoiled brat in the process. You said earlier they had "no Covid inflation". Now you're…
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background
Trump reiterates he is 'very seriously' weighing the ban — Speaking to a Fox News reporter at the Presidents Cup near Chicago, Trump said he is still very seriously looking at implementing a diesel export ban, while acknowledging it could raise gasoline prices for cars.
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4
Officials analyze a short-term ban; Wright pushes voluntary curbs
NEC Director Kevin Hassett, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and USTR Jamieson Greer spent the past week analyzing the ramifications of a potential short-term export ban, while Energy Secretary Chris Wright said the administration is instead working with refiners on voluntary export curbs; oil executives separately pushed for suspending the federal diesel excise tax.
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How a ban of diesel exports could lead to higher prices — even in the U.S.
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- 1 day quiet
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2
Companies add contract clauses to hedge against a possible ban
Bloomberg reported that some firms are already inserting contractual protections in case a pause on diesel shipments overseas prevents deliveries to foreign buyers.
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Farm-state Republicans push export limits as prices hit records
US on-highway diesel averaged about $6.53 a gallon, roughly $3 higher than a year earlier, with California above $8; Republican lawmakers from Iowa, Alaska, Tennessee and other states called for a pause on exports, and House bills proposed either a fixed export halt through early 2027 or a trigger at $5 a gallon.
- 1 day quiet
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Trump tells team to study a diesel export ban
Amid a national average diesel price near a record high, Trump said he had directed his team to consider banning diesel exports, with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent saying officials were studying whether a full or partial ban could work without harming US refining.
“fast, one way or the other…”
— Donald Trump -
first by Atlantic Council, 6d ago · also CNBC, Bloomberg
3 more headlines
- Oil industry warns a diesel export ban will raise fuel prices as Trump weighs restrictions CNBC · 5d ago
- API's Sommers: Diesel Export Ban Could Raise Gas Prices Bloomberg Politics · 5d ago
- Morgan Stanley: Diesel Export Ban Would Push U.S. Gas Prices Higher oilprice.com · 4d ago
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first by FreightWaves, 3d ago
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What people are saying 20 voices from 3 sites · best of 66 · verbatim
- Would refiners really halt production once storage filled, or find other ways to keep running?
- Could the Jones Act be waived or worked around to move Gulf Coast diesel surplus to the diesel-import-dependent Northeast?
- Would a ban be temporary and lifted once storage fills, as some argue it should be?
- Yesterday
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# BBC # News # Business UK tries to stop Trump's diesel export ban
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It’s actually super expensive to store large amounts of diesel, so it’s very likely that oil companies will lower the production of diesel considerably. Diesel prices would drop temporarily (maybe until after the midterms) but they would skyrocket pretty soon after
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It’s been said before: where are we going to store all the diesel we produce? We export 1.9m barrels a day. Banning exports doesn’t magically create 1.9m in extra demand domestically. It will raise the cost of diesel internationally, making the U.S. even more unpopular. Or Trump is just saying this to win points with a part of his base because…
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Trump said he is still looking “very seriously” at implementing a US ban on diesel exports to combat high prices
- Sep 27
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Yeah, you can tell yourself that in the mirror as a self affirmation montra and when you put your head on your pillow you can write down in your diary how "educated" you are. For a guy with over 7k contributions and only 600 karma, sounds like you have trouble connecting with reality.
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I believe Ive seen the same thing about it. The guy warned about it maybe 2 months(?) ago. Said when this happens we'll see short term relief, the will go back up to the same or more! This exact scenario is what he said to be afraid of....then he had a heart attack!
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This is generally correct, it would create a diesel glut mostly in the gulf coast states. The western states and midwestern states don’t really export much of anything to begin with, but do import some. The north eastern states usually have to import from abroad because we have a stupid rule called the jones act that says you can’t load a tanker…
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Just stop talking. Japan's inflation that started in 2022 was because sanctions got put on Russian energy not because of Covid. 2022: 2.50% (First major jump past the BOJ's 2% target following the Russia-Ukraine war) 2021: -0.23% (Deflationary stagnation during prolonged pandemic lockdowns) 2020: -0.02% (Initial pandemic shock dragging fuel and…
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Yes, policy had its part in the inflation. However, saying China and Japan had no Covid inflation is just false. Japan hit a 41 year high in inflation, reaching over 4% in the beginning of 2023 as global import and energy costs surged, and China experienced consumer inflation alongside massive spikes in producer prices. They even had strict…
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Hypothetically, you could use the same ships that are transporting the diesel internationally to transport it from the South coast to the Northeast. You'd have to suspend the laws about foreign ships going between domestic ports, but that's the least difficult part of the boondoggle
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Apparently, according to people much smarter than me, it would actually make things worse. Despite having lots of diesel, the way it is moved around the US depends on location. Much of the northeast is reliant on imports of diesel because pipelines don't go there. Companies would also stop producing diesel after a couple weeks once storage tanks…
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You're pointing out a 3 month micro-trend during the initial lockdowns and calling it the whole story. March through May 2020 saw month over month price drops, but annual CPI for that year was still positive at 1.2%. With a heavier weight, those exact supply chain shocks and sudden industrial shutdown from COVID are what crippled global production…
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No CPI had 3 months of deflation. March 2020 : The U.S. CPI fell by 0.4% from the previous month. April 2020 : The CPI dropped further by 0.8% month-over-month, representing the sharpest decline since the 2008 financial crisis. MAY 2020 : The U.S. CPI declined by 0.1% . This marked the third consecutive month of price declines following March…
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The real issue is that it's insanely expensive to transport oil/diesel via land compared to by sea. And there really isn't the infrastructure set up to do so even if we wanted to. We import diesel for a reason, because it's cheaper in some areas to import by the sea from other countries than it would be to ship diesel cross country via…
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You're confusing a brief monthly anomaly with actual deflation. Oil briefly went negative for a single month in 2020 during the initial lockdowns, annual CPI inflation for 2020 was still positive at 1.2%, it wasn't deflation. What COVID did was fuck global supply chains, shut down factories, and cause backlogs. As the world reopened, the crippled…
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There is no where for the excess capacity to go. Refineries would simply be forced to produce less diesel. Meanwhile American business suffers and consumers even more as market prices rise throughout the globe. But I'd expect something so stupid from the Trump administration so it's not really surprising.
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There was a pandemic and war that caused Bidens high inflation, do you not recall the supply chain issues across the world and the Ukraine war starting? We weren't experiencing the inflation all alone and the world was like "WTF is going on ONLY in America?". All of the increased inflation we currently have is due to this administrations actual…
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Ideally they would respond to that threat by attempting to distance themselves from Trump. Sure, they've already committed crimes, but Trump is an increasingly unpopular, increasing senile, increasingly old man. He's not going to be able to save them forever no matter what they do.
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false. we produce more diesel than we consume. I forget the exact figure but its more than a 1m bbl/day surplus. this means we run out of storage room real quick for diesel so refineries would have to cut overall production thus driving the price of gasoline higher.
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That's why it's gonna get bad... because all these people know the jig is up as soon as they lose power. And while Trump may never see jail and/or give pardons all over -- I promise you most of his administration are gonna be dragged like a montherfucker through the Federal and State legal systems. I dont care how rich you are, having to deal with…