White House says it’s not preparing to ban diesel exports

The White House on Wednesday denied a report that it is planning a 90-day ban on diesel exports as Americans struggle with high fuel prices.

The report, from Politico , cites five people familiar with the discussions and says that the legal process for the export ban was still being worked out.

In an unsigned statement to The Hill, the White House said, “This is not true.”

The White House referred The Hill to Energy Secretary Chris Wright’s comments to The Wall Street Journal , which the secretary said that the administration would not halt all diesel exports and would instead take a voluntary approach to bringing prices down.

Reuters also quoted Wright on Wednesday as criticizing the idea of a ban, saying, “The blunt tool of banning diesel exports definitely doesn’t work.”

The remarks follow comments from President Trump a day earlier in support of a ban.

“I’ve said, ‘Let’s not send out the diesel.’ We make a lot of diesel,” Trump said at the United Nations General Assembly in New York. “I’ve called for it within my people. I’ve been talking about it.”

At the same U.N. event, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that the administration has been “examining” the possibility of a ban.

Agriculture-state Republicans have been pushing for a ban on diesel exports as the price of the fuel reaches new highs amid disruptions stemming from the Russia-Ukraine and U.S.-Irans wars.

But the idea has gotten pushback from GOP lawmakers from more oil-producing states.

As of Wednesday, diesel was averaging $6.52 per gallon, according to AAA .