“We can reduce the price of gas and give families some relief,” Biden told the White House. The president also urged states to temporarily suspend state fuel taxes, which are often higher than federal rates, the official said, and will challenge major oil companies to come up with ideas on how to restore inertia through refining capacity. his energy minister on Thursday. . Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Biden and his advisers have been debating the issue for months amid mounting pressure to act as record gas prices cut the president’s polls and cast a dark cloud over Democrats’s chances of retaining congressional power in the November election. The suspension of the federal gasoline tax of 18.4 cents per gallon and the diesel tax of 24.4 cents would require congressional approval, which would likely make Biden’s move largely symbolic. Lawmakers in both parties have voiced opposition to the tax cut, with some Democrats, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, worried that the move could have a limited effect on prices if oil companies and retailers save. much of the savings. Biden called on Congress to suspend the fuel tax until September, a move that would cost the Highway Trust Fund about $ 10 billion in lost revenue, but could be covered by other areas of the budget that see revenue rising and deficits shrink as the United States emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic. Peter DeFazio, a Democrat and chairman of the House Transport and Infrastructure Committee, told reporters Wednesday that a federal gas tax holiday would provide “little relief” while creating a budget hole in a Motorway Fund needed to fix destroyed bridges and build a modern infrastructure system “. Some states, such as New York and Connecticut, have already halted state fuel taxes, while others have come up with ideas such as consumer discounts and immediate relief. Refineries are struggling to meet global demand for diesel and gasoline, exacerbating high prices and exacerbating shortages. read more “The easing of the federal gas tax will certainly provide a short-term relief to American drivers, but it will not solve the root of the problem – the imbalance in supply and demand for petroleum products,” said a spokesman for the U.S. Fuel and Petrochemical Industry Group. Even longer-term policies are needed to boost US energy production, he said. Pump prices in the US are on average close to $ 5 a gallon, as growing demand for motor fuels coincides with the loss of about 1 million barrels per day of processing capacity. In the last three years many factories have closed when fuel demand has fallen in craters at the height of the pandemic. read more Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Report by Jarrett Renshaw. additional report by Katharine Jackson. Editing: Susan Heavey, Nick Zieminski and Grant McCool Our role models: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
