President Donald Trump floated the idea of a federal gas tax suspension Tuesday. He said his administration was "thinking about that" as a further measure to try to lower soaring gas and diesel prices ahead of the November midterms. With the national average gas price nearly 50 percent higher than before the war in Iran started in late February, the Trump administration is under growing pressure to ease Americans’ pain at the pump.
On Monday, the president signed an executive order allowing the use of tax-free dyed diesel on the road through the end of the year, with no interest and no penalties. When asked by reporters whether a suspension of the federal gas tax is going to be the White House’s next move, Trump said: "We’re thinking about that." The president, who has previously expressed support for suspending the federal gas tax, did not provide any more details on a potential timeline for this measure. Republican South Dakota Senator and Senate Majority Leader John Thune said in May: "If the president wants to make an argument in support of that, I’m sure everybody will give him a chance and hear him out." Republican Montana Representative and House Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith said in the same month: "Anything Congress can do to help relieve the pain that Americans are facing, we need to do it." Newsweek contacted the White House for comment by email on Wednesday morning and is awaiting a response.
As of late on Tuesday, the national average gas price was $4.37 per gallon, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA). This was up from $3.12 per gallon a year earlier and from $2.98 per gallon before the U.S. and Israel launched joint strikes on Iran on February 28. Drivers in California are paying the highest prices in the nation, for a statewide average of $6.36 per gallon, up from $4.65 per gallon a year earlier.
In five other states, the statewide average gas price was above $5 per gallon, including Hawaii ($5.63), Washington ($5.48), Nevada ($5.46), Oregon ($5.03) and Alaska ($5.01). The cheapest price at the pump was paid by drivers in Indiana ($3.70), Ohio ($3.74) and Georgia ($3.86). The national average diesel price, meanwhile, was $6.30 per gallon, up from $3.68 per gallon a year ago and up by more than $2.5 per gallon since late February.
California drivers paid the highest diesel prices in the nation, for a statewide average of $8.35 per gallon. Prices were above $7 per gallon in two other states: Washington ($7.32) and Hawaii ($7.22). Drivers in Texas ($5.72), Georgia ($5.79) and Oklahoma ($5.80) paid the lowest diesel prices in the nation.
The federal tax is 18.4 cents per gallon on gas and 24.4 cents per gallon on diesel. Suspending it would cut roughly 4 percent of the price of a gallon of regular gas, considering the current national average, and just short of 4 percent of the price of a gallon of diesel. If the federal gas tax was completely eliminated, drivers would save $1.84 for filling up their tank by 10 gallons of regular gas; $2.21 for 12 gallons; $2.76 for 15 gallons; and $3.68 for 20 gallons.
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