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2026-09-21 09:00:10
[Clasley Urges Trump to Ban Diesel Exports, Says High Oil Prices "Crush Farmers' Income"] (1) Iowa Republican Senator Chuck Grassley urged President Trump on Saturday to impose an embargo on diesel exports due to high prices. (2) Grassley wrote on social media Saturday night: "Why doesn't President Trump impose an embargo on agricultural products like presidents in the 1970s did—because food prices were driven up—and why doesn't he impose an embargo on diesel exports?" He added: "High diesel prices are killing farmers' income." (3) According to the American Automobile Association (AAA), the average price of diesel in the U.S. on Sunday night was about $6.51 per gallon, compared to about $3.70 a year ago; the average price in Grassley's home state of Iowa was about $6.29. (4) Rising diesel prices are a problem for Republicans. Soaring energy costs are worsening economic sentiment in the U.S. shortly before the November midterm elections. The national average price of diesel has risen by more than 40 cents in the past week. (5) Trump has tried to blame energy facilities hit in the Russia-Ukraine war, but the high prices are also attributed to the war with Iran. As the war approaches its seventh month, the Strait of Hormuz, which supplies about one-fifth of the world's oil, faces closure, driving up oil costs.
