Reuters’ Jarrett Renshaw and Kanishka Singh reported that “US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday to expand access to tax-exempt diesel that he unveiled from a rally stage in Nebraska.“
“Prices for the fuel integral to trucking goods have risen in response to the US-Israeli war on Iran and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, with the conflicts having led to attacks on refineries in the Middle East and Russia,” Renshaw and Singh reported. “Trump said the directive will waive the off-road requirement for tax-free diesel and allow anyone to buy the red dye diesel fuel that is used by the agriculture industry and by some off-road vehicles.”
“‘We are not going to need it long, I hope,’ Trump said of the waiver,” according to Renshaw and Singh’s reporting.
CNBC’s Anniek Bao reported that “the U.S. national average price of diesel topped $6 a gallon in September for the first time ever, as fuel supply disruptions triggered by the conflicts in Ukraine and Iran pushed up transportation costs across the country. Americans are spending about $700 million more per day on gas and diesel than they did a year ago, according to Bob McNally, president of Rapidan Energy.”
“The White House said truckers could save more than $100 per fill-up,” Bao reported.
NBC News’ Steve Kopack and Christina Wilkie reported that “a White House fact sheet about the order said Trump has directed the secretaries of transportation, agriculture, defense and the Treasury to work on expanding access to tax-exempt diesel and encouraging states to suspend their diesel taxes.”
Specifically, Agri-Pulse’s Kim Chipman reported, “the order directs the transportation secretary to coordinate with states, industry leadership, and labor groups on access to dyed diesel (and) the agriculture secretary to ensure farmers’ access to dyed diesel in high-demand areas, and to encourage corresponding action by states.”
“The order also says the administration and state governors can exercise their enforcement discretion to halt inspections and waive the tax liability that users would face for on-road use of dyed diesel,” Chipman reported.
Experts Doubt Plan Will Help Farmers
Bloomberg’s Hadriana Lowenkron, Jennifer A Dlouhy, and Josh Wingrove reported that “under Trump’s order, the IRS will make clear it won’t impose penalties when dyed diesel is sold for highway use through the end of the year. Trump’s measure aims to ensure farmers continue to have reliable access to dyed diesel by directing Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins to ensure adequate distribution of the product.”
“Yet energy experts and economists have questioned whether Trump’s move would have a sweeping impact, warning the infrastructure for delivering red diesel is limited,” Lowenkron, Dlouhy and Wingrove reported. “It also risks blowback in the form of higher prices for farmers, if more on-road customers seeking the tax-exempt dyed diesel strain existing supply of that red variety.“
USA Today’s Bart Jansen reported that “Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis for the price-tracking website GasBuddy, said action on dyed diesel could help reduce prices for truckers but would do little to help farmers who already have access to it.“
“‘Taxes aren’t the problem, supply is,’ De Haan said on X on Sept. 28,” according to Jansen’s reporting.
