Washington Presses Europe to Release Diesel as Trump Weighs Export Ban
Asked whether he would call on Europe to release its diesel reserves, Donald Trump said: “We may do that. They have some diesel.” He is weighing a ban on American exports. The Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has urged Europe to make supplies available immediately, arguing American farmers and truckers “should not be left carrying the burden”. Britain held talks with European partners on Thursday; over half its diesel is imported, 31% from the United States.
The asymmetry is the story. Banning exports would flood the American market and could cut pump prices sharply for American drivers, which matters to a president five weeks from midterm elections in which fuel costs are a priority issue for voters. It would do the opposite everywhere else, unless other countries can find alternative supply, and the United States ships between 1.2 and 1.5 million barrels of diesel a day. Britain is among the more exposed: it cannot refine enough diesel for its own needs, and diesel is the fuel of haulage, farming and heating, so a price shock passes almost directly into food and freight costs. Pump prices are already at a record, just under 200p a litre. Officials are understood to fear that emptying European reserves now would leave the continent exposed if the Gulf crisis worsens over the winter, which is the argument against simply complying. Watch whether any release is routed through the International Energy Agency rather than agreed country by country.