Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley is pressuring President Trump to restrict diesel exports as skyrocketing fuel prices squeeze farmers and truckers across the country.
Grassley, a Republican, took to the social platform X over the weekend to make his case directly and forcefully to the president.
“[W]hy doesn’t Pres Trump put an embargo on diesel exports like presidents in the 70s put embargoes on ag[riculture] products [because] food prices were inflated,” Grassley posted Saturday night.
The veteran senator did not stop there, adding in capital letters that “High diesel prices ARE KILLING FARMERS INCOME” in the same post.
In a follow-up post Sunday afternoon, Grassley wrote: “If our govt can embargo chips to China it can embargo diesel to help American farmers & truckers.”
He continued: “We need our family farmers who feed&fuel the world 2b on the strongest footing possible no matter what’s happening across the globe.”
According to AAA, the average price of a gallon of diesel in the United States on Sunday evening stood at approximately $6.51, compared to roughly $3.70 at the same point last year.
In Grassley’s home state of Iowa, the average gallon of diesel was somewhat lower at around $6.29, still representing a dramatic increase from year-ago levels, per AAA data.
The diesel price surge poses a serious political problem for Republicans, as soaring energy costs darken the economic mood heading into the midterm elections.
Grassley’s call has found at least some traction among fellow Republicans on Capitol Hill, with Senate Majority Leader John Thune saying he was “open” to examining an export ban as a potential remedy.
Tennessee Representative Tim Burchett went further, filing legislation this week that would outright ban diesel exports to foreign countries through January 2027.
Despite the growing Republican chorus, the proposal faces meaningful resistance inside the Trump administration itself, complicating any straightforward path forward.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum argued last week that restricting oil or fuel exports would be unlikely to actually lower consumer prices and could invite retaliation from key trading partners.
The Hill has reached out to the White House for comment, and the debate over whether executive action on diesel exports is viable or effective appears set to intensify in the days ahead.
