Chuck Grassley Urges Trump to Impose 1970s-Style Diesel Export Embargo as Prices Hit Record High
Key Takeaways
- •Sen. Chuck Grassley asked President Trump to impose a diesel export embargo, citing 1970s-era emergency trade restrictions as a precedent.
- •The national average diesel price reached a record $6.49 per gallon, up 33 cents in a week and nearly $1 over a month, according to AAA.
- •Iowa diesel averaged $6.21 per gallon, and Grassley said high fuel costs are severely cutting into farmers' incomes.
- •Politico's Meredith Lee Hill described Grassley's appeal as another warning sign in the increasingly competitive Iowa Senate race between Republican Ashley Hinson and Democrat Josh Turek.
- •An analyst told ABC News that banning diesel exports could lower prices for a few weeks before refineries cut production and prices spike again, while also cooling foreign investment in the U.S. energy industry.
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) urged President Donald Trump on Saturday night to take emergency action against the soaring cost of diesel fuel across the United States — a plea that Politico's Meredith Lee Hill described as "another warning sign for the Iowa Senate race."
Grassley made the appeal in a post on X, writing in his characteristically casual style: "W diesel $6.57 in Iowa why doesn't Pres Trump put an embargo on diesel exports like presidents in the 70s put embargoes on ag products bc food prices were inflated. High diesel prices ARE KILLING FARMERS INCOME."
The reference pointed to the 1970s, when presidents imposed embargoes on agricultural products amid inflated food prices — an era examined by farmdocdaily.
The national average price of a gallon of diesel hit an all-time high in the United States on Saturday, reaching $6.49 — nearly $1 higher than a month ago and up 33 cents from a week earlier, according to AAA. In Iowa, diesel averaged $6.21 a gallon on Saturday, having climbed at a similar pace over the past month. The sticker shock carries particular weight in agricultural states like Iowa, where diesel powers tractors, harvesters and the freight trucks that move crops to market.
As flagged by Lee Hill, Grassley's plea could be seen as a dire sign for GOP Senate nominee Ashley Hinson, who is running against Democratic nominee Josh Turek in a race that has become "increasingly competitive."
"Diesel prices are so high in Iowa that Chuck Grassley is calling for Trump to take 1970s style emergency actions," Lee Hill wrote in a post on X. "As Politico has reported — GOP lawmakers have been privately pressing Trump officials for weeks to take emergency actions to try to lower gas prices ahead of the midterms — including during the GOP convention in Dallas."
Given Grassley's senior role in Congress as Senate president pro tempore, journalist Molly Jong-Fast questioned aloud whether the 93-year-old lawmaker had better options for making such requests. "There has to be a better way to communicate with the leader of your party," Jong-Fast quipped in a post on X. "Maybe you know a senator from the party in power? Oh wait," she added in a follow-up post.
ABC News' Ben Siegel warned that, should Trump oblige Grassley's request, an export embargo could ultimately backfire. "One analyst told ABC News banning diesel exports would bring prices down in some gulf and midwestern states for a few weeks, before refineries cut production in response, causing prices to spike again," Siegel wrote in a post on X. "It could also cool foreign investment in U.S. energy industry & production." Whether Trump takes up the request, and what AAA's daily price trackers show next, are the immediate markers heading into the November midterms.
W diesel $6.57 in Iowa why doesn't Pres Trump put an embargo on diesel exports like presidents in the 70s put embargoes on ag products bc food prices were inflated. High diesel prices ARE KILLING FARMERS INCOME #cornwatch #soybeanwatch
— Chuck Grassley (@ChuckGrassley) September 20, 2026
Source: Raw Story
