WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is asking U.S. refiners to voluntarily reduce diesel exports and keep more fuel in the domestic market as diesel prices remain above $6.50 per gallon nationwide, a development with immediate consequences for trucking companies and owner-operators already facing sharply higher fuel costs.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright told reporters that the administration has urged exporters to trim overseas shipments and increase domestic diesel inventories rather than immediately impose a government export ban. Wright summarized the administration’s message to refiners bluntly: “You gotta put Americans first.”
The move comes as the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported a national average retail on-highway diesel price of $6.529 per gallon for the week ending September 21, up from $6.285 one week earlier and $5.967 two weeks earlier. Midwest diesel averaged $6.680, while the Central Atlantic reached $6.546 and New England averaged $6.517.
No federal diesel export ban has been ordered. The administration is currently pursuing voluntary reductions while continuing to study other options.
Trump has openly backed restricting diesel exports
President Donald Trump publicly confirmed earlier this week that he has pushed the idea of restricting U.S. diesel exports.
Speaking before a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the United Nations on September 22, Trump told reporters, “I’ve said let’s not send out the diesel. We make a lot of diesel.”
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said at the same appearance that administration officials were examining whether an export restriction was feasible and whether a complete or partial ban would work.
The White House has not announced a formal export restriction, however, and Wright has since emphasized that the administration is looking first at ways to increase domestic supplies without disrupting refinery production.
Wright said the government is encouraging a cooperative effort with refiners to increase the amount of diesel remaining in the United States and relieve upward pressure on prices. He has also said a complete halt to exports is not currently what officials are discussing.
That distinction is important.
The administration is actively intervening in the diesel supply debate, but there is presently no federal order requiring refiners to stop exporting diesel.
Diesel increase is hitting trucking directly
Fuel is one of the largest variable operating expenses for commercial trucking.
According to EIA data, the national diesel average increased roughly 56 cents per gallon in two weeks, climbing from $5.967 on September 7 to $6.529 on September 21.
For a tractor purchasing 150 gallons, that two-week increase alone represents roughly $84 more per fill-up, before considering the much larger year-over-year increase.
The impact becomes significantly larger for fleets operating hundreds or thousands of trucks.
The administration’s latest move therefore directly affects freight transportation even though the policy discussion is being led primarily by the White House, Treasury Department and Department of Energy rather than the Department of Transportation.
Why the government is asking exporters to hold diesel back
Wright told reporters that refiners have been asked to reduce exports somewhat and place additional diesel into the U.S. market in an effort to rebuild inventories and push prices downward.
The strategy would attempt to increase domestic supply without invoking mandatory export controls.
That approach also appears designed to avoid one of the major concerns raised by refiners and energy-industry groups: U.S. refineries do not produce diesel independently from gasoline, jet fuel and other petroleum products.
The American Petroleum Institute argues that Gulf Coast refineries produce more diesel than the region itself consumes and depend on export markets to absorb some of that production. API warns that if exports were blocked and storage facilities filled, refiners could eventually reduce crude-oil processing, which would also reduce production of gasoline and jet fuel.
That is an industry position, not a government finding.
But it illustrates the policy problem facing the administration: keeping more diesel inside the United States could increase domestic inventories in the short term, while overly broad export restrictions could also disrupt refinery economics and overall fuel production.
Business groups warn mandatory ban could backfire
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has publicly opposed a diesel export ban, arguing that an export restriction could raise costs rather than lower them.
The Chamber specifically cited the effect on truckers, farmers and families, saying an export ban could create disruptions across energy markets and potentially reduce supplies of gasoline and jet fuel.
API issued a similar warning, saying restrictions could compound existing refining problems rather than resolve the diesel shortage.
Those statements represent industry advocacy and should not be interpreted as an independent determination of what an export restriction would ultimately do to prices.
The administration itself appears divided over how aggressive any intervention should be.
Trump has publicly expressed support for restricting exports. Bessent has said the administration is evaluating whether such restrictions would work. Wright, meanwhile, has pushed voluntary reductions and cautioned against a blanket prohibition.
Trucking now has another Washington policy fight to watch
For motor carriers, the immediate issue is not whether Washington ultimately imposes an export ban.
It is the price at the pump.
EIA’s latest published national diesel average of $6.529 means a truck consuming 100 gallons per day would spend approximately $653 per day on fuel, before discounts, fuel surcharges or regional differences are considered.
A long-haul tractor burning several hundred gallons during a multi-day run can therefore accumulate thousands of dollars in fuel expense very quickly.
That makes even relatively small movements in the national diesel average significant to trucking-company margins.
The new development is that the federal government is no longer merely discussing high diesel prices. The Energy Department is now directly asking refiners to alter export behavior in an effort to increase domestic supply.
Whether that voluntary approach significantly lowers diesel prices remains unknown.
The administration has also indicated that additional measures are being considered, although Wright has not publicly detailed all of those options.
For now, truckers are left watching both the fuel board and Washington.
