Diesel Hits a Record $6.51 and Farm-State Republicans Tell Trump to Stop Exporting It — Chuck Grassley Posts That Prices "ARE KILLING FARMERS INCOME," Trump-Backed Senate Nominees in Iowa and Michigan Say the Iran War "Needs to End," John Cornyn Calls a Ban "a Gimmick," and Trump Says "I've Called for It Within My People"
The national average price of diesel reached a record $6.51 a gallon on September 21, 2026, up roughly 80% on the year, as the Iran war and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, together with the war in Ukraine, cut refinery output and fuel shipments worldwide. Iowa diesel passed $6.50 and Michigan reached $6.81. Farm-state Republicans have spent the past week pressing President Trump to embargo U.S. diesel exports to keep more supply at home. Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) filed two bills on September 17, one banning diesel exports through January 2027 and one that would trigger a ban whenever the national average tops $5. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said on September 15 that he was "open to exploring it," and later that the export ban "makes probably more sense to me" than suspending the federal gas tax. On Saturday, September 19, Sen. Chuck Grassley posted that "High diesel prices ARE KILLING FARMERS INCOME" and asked why Trump didn't embargo diesel the way 1970s presidents embargoed farm exports. On Monday, September 21, two Trump-backed Republican Senate nominees, Rep. Ashley Hinson of Iowa and former Rep. Mike Rogers of Michigan, each called for a diesel export pause and a gas-tax suspension, and each said the Iran war needed to end. Hinson has voted against every House resolution to halt the war. Their Democratic opponents, Josh Turek and Abdul El-Sayed, answered that the two were reversing themselves weeks before the election. Oil-state Republicans and the administration's own energy officials pushed back. Sen. John Cornyn of Texas called a ban "a gimmick," Sen. Lisa Murkowski said it "doesn't really move the needle," and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said the administration would consider one only "if we thought that actually might lower prices, but that's not the case." Refiners and analysts warned that the United States already produces more diesel than it uses, so a ban could glut the Gulf Coast while prices rose elsewhere. Then on September 22, on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, Trump said he had pushed for a ban inside his administration, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the administration was "examining" whether it was feasible.
“We are working with the industry … to increase the supply of diesel … without using blunt instruments. … Nobody wants a full blanket ban or zero exports of diesel. … What's being discussed is what's the most efficient way to get more diesel into the United States.”