{"text":[[{"start":11.04,"text":"Donald Trump has held crisis talks with advisers over whether to impose a diesel export ban or take other steps to contain a fuel crisis that threatens to derail his Republican Party’s midterm election campaign."}],[{"start":24.04,"text":"Aides have presented the president with options including curbs on international diesel sales, people familiar with the discussions said, and administration officials have briefed foreign allies including the UK about possible disruption to their supplies."}],[{"start":38.16,"text":"A White House official said Trump was “evaluating all the options on the table” to lower domestic fuel prices and that no decision had been taken on whether to suspend exports."}],[{"start":48.4,"text":"But the president is at the centre of a lobbying fight between Republican allies worried about the political impact of the diesel price surge — which has hammered farmers and other parts of US industry — and oil bosses desperate to preserve lucrative exports."}],[{"start":63.4,"text":"Republicans from agricultural heartlands, led by Iowa senator Chuck Grassley, have pushed for the block, fearing a midterms backlash unless fuel prices can be lowered. Voters have soured on Trump’s handling of the economy, his Iran war and inflation, according to polls."}],[{"start":79.68,"text":"“The political effects are that the Republicans could lose the majority,” Tennessee Congress member Tim Burchett told the FT."}],[{"start":85.72,"text":"“We’re going to own it, whether we deserve to or not. We’re the ones in power — it’s hard to escape that,” added Burchett, who has proposed legislation to ban diesel exports."}],[{"start":96.96,"text":"One leading industry figure familiar with the White House debate said an export ban was “absolutely getting pretty close to movement” last week after Grassley and top Republicans from farming states urged the administration to “stop the bleeding”."}],[{"start":110.68,"text":"White House officials have also laid the groundwork for a ban with allies in Europe, where prices have hit new records, prompting street protests."}],[{"start":118.679,"text":"US energy secretary Chris Wright held calls with UK officials on Monday, according to people familiar with the talks. Scott Bessent also spoke to Robert Jenrick, a senior member of the rightwing Reform UK party, who wrote to the US Treasury secretary last week arguing against a ban or to exempt the UK."}],[{"start":137.44,"text":"The Trump administration cranked up pressure on European allies to release diesel stocks from their reserves. US officials have also discussed asking China to increase diesel production from its refineries."}],[{"start":148.24,"text":"The possibility of a ban has prompted a flurry of frantic calls to the White House from oil executives in recent days. Members of Trump’s cabinet — including Wright, interior secretary Doug Burgum and Bessent — have also weighed in against a diesel ban. ExxonMobil’s chief executive Darren Woods met Wright in the White House on Tuesday."}],[{"start":168.1,"text":"People familiar with the debate said the Big Oil lobbying effort had convinced the president that an export ban could backfire by pushing up prices in parts of the US that import fuel from the international market."}],[{"start":179.56,"text":"But the issue remains live. Trump said at the weekend he was “very seriously considering” a ban. People familiar with the debate said he could make a sudden decision in favour."}],[{"start":189.56,"text":"“The debate goes on. We don’t have a firm sense of what he’s going to do,” said one person familiar with the arguments within the administration. “White House staff are thoroughly opposed to it. But this is all about Trump, and does Trump want to do something big . . . So [a ban is] still in play.”"}],[{"start":206.14,"text":"Other ideas floated in White House discussions include further waivers of the Jones Act, to allow easier shipping between US ports, tax relief either at state or federal level and relaxing rules on cheaper dyed diesel reserved for off-road vehicles such as tractors."}],[{"start":222.14,"text":"The urgency comes almost two years after the president was re-elected on a vow to slash fuel prices for Americans and unleash an era of “American energy dominance” with booming exports."}],[{"start":233.44,"text":"But his Iran war, now in its seventh month, has sparked a historic fuel crisis, with diesel — critical in US industry and agriculture — hitting $6.53 a gallon last week, more than 70 per cent above its prewar price."}],[{"start":248.22,"text":"Bill Farren-Price at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies said: “Creating an energy price shock through a Middle Eastern war of choice is not good for US consumers, the world economy or the longer-term growth of oil and gas markets.”"}],[{"start":261.92,"text":"The debate in the White House comes after Trump rejected an Iranian proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which could have allowed more oil into the international market. Shipments of oil from the Gulf have increased in recent weeks but remain well below their prewar level, when about 20 per cent of global oil supplies passed through the strait."}],[{"start":283.56,"text":"Prices of crude, from which diesel is made, have jumped almost 40 per cent since the war started in February, with Brent settling at $102.59 a barrel on Tuesday. Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries have worsened the global diesel shortage."}],[{"start":300.52,"text":"Although the US produces more oil than any other country and its refineries are running at full tilt, the crisis has exposed its vulnerability to energy shocks, industry experts said."}],[{"start":311.84,"text":"Jigar Shah, a former energy official in Joe Biden’s administration, said: “What’s happening with this Iran conflict is it is showing people that no matter how much oil we produce and how energy independent or energy dominant we seem to claim that we are, we are still at the mercy of foreign governments.”"}],[{"start":334.4,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1790751783_5368.mp3"}