The pause on the dumb Trump/Musk tariffs has taken that artificial upward pressure on gas prices out of the equation, but prices are still up.
GasBuddy reports on Monday that gas prices are up 4.8 cents per gallon nationally from last week, starting the day on Monday at $3.09 a gallon.
The average price in Virginia is $3.04 per gallon, up 1.3 cents per gallon from a week ago.
The Trump/Musk tariffs were paused when Trump, seeing the negative reaction from the markets, caved, accepting “concessions” from Mexico and Canada that involved leaders in those countries agreeing to do things that they were already doing to avoid a trade war that he clearly hadn’t thought through.
ICYMI
- Trump backs off Mexico tariffs: Countries agree to one-month pause
- Canada agrees to strengthen border: In return, we can still sell them our liquor
In the case of gas prices, we import 4.6 million barrels of oil per day from Mexico and Canada, accounting for 22.7 percent of what we use, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
The backtracking from Trump on the dumb tariff idea is a good thing in the matter of gas prices.
“With tariffs on Mexico and Canada currently on pause, trade policy has yet to directly impact fuel prices. However, refinery issues are creating localized disruptions, particularly on the West Coast, where a refinery fire and the transition to summer gasoline are pushing prices higher. Elsewhere, volatility and seasonal trends continue to drive normal fluctuations,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at Gas Buddy.
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Chris Graham
