White House Moves Closer To Diesel Export Ban As Trump’s Iran War

The administration’s own quote exposes the contradiction: “We need more supply, not less supply.” That is exactly right, which is why a diesel export ban makes no sense. You do not increase supply by punishing the refineries that produce it. The market does not work on command. If you force American producers to sell only at home, they will simply run fewer units, sell less, and the global barrel price climbs. We end up with less diesel everywhere — including here.

The logic of the ban is supposed to be about Iran and keeping fuel prices down, but it is built on a false premise. Refineries run at high capacity because they can sell abroad; that is what funds the investment to keep the lights on. Cut off the export market, and the refinery will not magically re-route all that product to U.S. truck stops. It will just cut output. Supply will shrink, not grow. Our allies in Europe and Asia will buy from Russia and Venezuela instead — with worse emissions and worse politics attached.

President Trump is right to be frustrated with Iran, and if he needs to tighten the screws, we should support him. But this ban is a self-inflicted wound. The real answer is more domestic drilling, faster permitting, and letting refiners run at full tilt. Government mandates never created a gallon of fuel. The White House should walk this back, or we will watch diesel prices rise through the summer — and the administration will own every penny of it.