Common gasoline is $4.09 a gallon at a fuel station in Salt Lake Metropolis on Monday, March 7, 2022. The common worth of fuel within the U.S. broke the $4 per gallon line over the weekend for the primary time since 2008. Mengshin Lin, Deseret Information
President Joe Biden introduced a U.S. ban on all Russian oil, fuel and vitality imports Tuesday at a White Home press convention and famous the choice is more likely to drive already record-level shopper costs even larger.
“At the moment, I’m asserting the U.S. is concentrating on the primary artery of Russia’s financial system,” Biden mentioned. “We’re banning all imports of Russian oil, fuel and vitality.
“The American individuals will deal one other highly effective blow to Putin’s conflict machine.”
Biden mentioned worldwide financial sanctions in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine are pummeling the Russian financial system and have helped drive the worth of the nation’s forex, the ruble, down by 50%.
However Russian vitality exports haven't, till now, been focused as part of sanctions, thanks largely to Europe’s heavy dependence on Russian vitality imports. Biden famous the ban is, in the meanwhile, a unilateral transfer by the U.S.
“We’re transferring ahead with this ban understanding that lots of our European allies and companions is probably not ready to hitch us,” Biden mentioned. “It is a step that we’re taking to inflict additional ache on Putin, however there can be prices as effectively right here within the U.S.”
Biden mentioned he believes the ban has bipartisan help in Congress and among the many American individuals.
The choice is more likely to drive additional U.S. worth will increase on the shopper stage. On Tuesday, AAA reported the typical worth of fuel within the U.S. reached an all-time excessive of $4.17, surpassing the earlier excessive of $4.11 set in 2008. The common worth per gallon of fuel in Utah was $4.01 on Tuesday, in line with AAA.
Biden’s transfer follows pleas by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to U.S. and Western officers to chop off the imports, which had been a obtrusive omission within the large sanctions put in place on Russia over the invasion. Power exports have stored a gradual stream of money flowing to Russia regardless of in any other case extreme restrictions on its monetary sector.
The U.S. can be performing alone, however in shut session with European allies, who're extra depending on Russian vitality provides. The European Union this week will commit to phasing out its reliance on Russia for vitality wants as quickly as attainable, however filling the void with out crippling EU economies will probably take a while. Pure fuel from Russia accounts for one-third of Europe’s consumption of the fossil gasoline. The U.S. doesn't import Russian pure fuel.
Biden additionally issued a warning to personal sector industries that the present circumstances shouldn't be used as an excuse for “extreme worth will increase” and mentioned as Russia’s aggression is already “costing us all . . . it’s not the time for profiteering or worth gouging.”
The oil sanctions has created a battle for the president between political pursuits at dwelling and efforts to impose prices on Russia. Although Russian oil makes up solely a small a part of U.S. imports, Biden has mentioned he was reluctant to ban it, slicing into provides right here and pushing gasoline costs larger.
Now that @POTUS has lastly consented to halting Russian oil imports, he should observe by way of with the logical second step and open the faucet on America's clear, ample vitality sources.https://t.co/bxxjf5Il12
— Mike Lee (@SenMikeLee) March 8, 2022
In a Tweet earlier than Biden spoke Tuesday morning, Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee mentioned Biden wanted to observe up the Russian import ban by increasing entry to U.S. home vitality sources.
“Now that @POTUS has lastly consented to halting Russian oil imports, he should observe by way of with the logical second step and open the faucet on America’s clear, ample vitality sources,” Lee tweeted.
Rep. John Curtis, R-Utah, known as the ban of Russian oil a constructive step however mentioned the U.S. “should go even additional.”
“It's time to choke Russia’s complete oil and fuel trade and take steps to wean Europe off of its reliance on Russia,” he tweeted.
Banning Russian oil and #natgas from the U.S. is a constructive step however we should go even additional.
— Rep. John Curtis (@RepJohnCurtis) March 8, 2022
It's time to choke Russia’s complete oil and fuel trade and take steps to wean Europe off of its reliance on Russia.
Extra of my ideas right here: https://t.co/LDAtsHIXxo
Even earlier than the U.S. ban many Western vitality corporations together with ExxonMobil and BP moved to chop ties with Russia and restrict imports. Shell, which bought a cargo of Russian oil this weekend, apologized for the transfer on Tuesday amid worldwide criticism and pledged to halt additional purchases of Russian vitality provides. Preliminary knowledge from the U.S. Power Division reveals imports of Russian crude dropped to zero within the final week in February.
Inflation is at a 40-year peak, fueled largely by fuel costs, and that would harm Biden heading into the November midterm elections. He mentioned two weeks in the past that he wished “to restrict the ache the American persons are feeling on the fuel pump.”
U.S. customers have been feeling loads of cost-related ache of late and the nationwide common costs for a broad vary of products and companies have been on the rise for a month.
House rental prices rose 0.5% in January, the quickest tempo in 20 years. Electrical energy costs surged 4.2% in January alone, the sharpest rise in 15 years, and are up 10.7% from a 12 months earlier. Final month, family furnishings and provides rose 1.6%, the biggest one-month improve on file relationship to 1967.
Meals prices, pushed by pricier eggs, cereal and dairy merchandise, elevated 0.9% in January. Air fares rose 2.3%. New automotive costs, which have jumped in the course of the pandemic due to a scarcity of laptop chips, had been unchanged final month however are up 12.2% from a 12 months in the past. The surge in new automotive costs has, in flip, accelerated used automotive costs; they rose 1.5% in January and are up a dizzying 41% from a 12 months in the past.
The U.S. imported 245 million barrels of oil from Russia final 12 months — about 8% of all U.S. oil imports — up from 198 million barrels in 2020. That’s lower than the U.S. will get from Canada or Mexico however greater than it imported final 12 months from Saudi Arabia.
Contributing: Related Press