Donald Trump has backed a ban on diesel exports from the United States, a step that would hit Europe hardest after supply cuts from Russia and the Middle East. No document has been signed, but pressure is building before November’s congressional elections, with US diesel prices above a record $6.50 a gallon.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the administration is studying whether a full or partial ban is feasible and how it would affect refineries’ crude processing. Republican politicians are rallying behind restrictions as pump prices shape the campaign.
Diesel is expensive in America not because the country lacks it, but because prices are climbing worldwide. Barrels that used to sail abroad would find few extra buyers at home, so inventories would swell; once tanks fill, refiners would cut runs. Crude processing technology means lower throughput also means less petrol and jet fuel, so those prices could rise rather than fall. The east coast imports fuel for logistical reasons, and if a ban lifts global diesel prices, those imports get dearer. American drivers are not assured of gains; Europe most probably loses.
Macron pushes the other way
Emmanuel Macron has urged the opposite. In a letter to Ursula von der Leyen, the French president called for a study of relaxing quality standards for diesel and jet fuel, arguing it could let EU refiners lift output by as much as 20 per cent, and for a bigger share of biocomponents in diesel. These are ideas for analysis, not adopted rules.
European diesel rose about 1 per cent to close to $1,390 a tonne, below the record $1,520 of two weeks ago but far above the $600-650 at the start of the year. Brent fell 0.8 per cent to around $98.5 a barrel, its cheapest since 8 September. Reuters, citing three sources, reported that Saudi Arabia’s East-West pipeline had restarted and exports from Yanbu on the Red Sea may have resumed, with one of the first cargoes bound for China. The line moved about 4m barrels a day before the halt – roughly 4 per cent of world supply – against a maximum 7m bpd, and full operation could take six to eight weeks.
A senior Iranian official said Tehran could „open” the Strait of Hormuz within seven days if Washington eased military pressure and lifted the blockade of Iranian ports. Trump confirmed talks and said he expected a deal, though at the United Nations he suggested it might come only after elections on 3 November. Iran’s Fars agency denied the reports.
Poland’s fuel tax fight drags on
President Karol Nawrocki argues the windfall tax on fuel companies passed again by the Sejm is unconstitutional because it works retroactively, covering profits from March 2026 to the end of March 2027, while the government cites the wartime emergency. Nawrocki sent an earlier version to the Constitutional Tribunal in July, and the current text barely differs where he raised objections. The Presidential Chancellery wants a separate fund fed by the tax and spent only on cheaper fuel, including covering lost VAT and excise revenue, with unused money carried forward and the finance minister reporting to parliament.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk repeats that another CPN round – tax cuts producing cheaper fuel – will start the moment the bill is signed. Government spokesman Adam Szłapka puts the cost at about 1.5bn zlotys a month and says extra fuel company profits should pay for drivers’ relief. The palace counters that VAT can be cut by regulation. Nawrocki promotes his own bill: a temporary zero rate on retail fuel sales tax, the option to lower excise and caps on margins, which the government warns could make imports unprofitable.
Wholesale prices slipped again – diesel by 9 groszy and 95-octane petrol by 4 groszy a litre, to 7.35 and 6.24 zlotys. With CPN’s excise and VAT cuts, pumps would show roughly 7.95 and 6.75 zlotys, about a zloty less than now.
Records on both sides of the Atlantic
The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.5 per cent on Tuesday, beating its all-time high from early June after more than three months, while the S&P 500 missed a similar mark by fractions of a point. The June-July correction had taken more than 10 per cent off the Nasdaq; those losses are gone.
Meta Platforms drove the advance. The owner of Facebook and Instagram recently launched AI Muse, a programme that handles multi-step tasks such as sending emails, booking travel and completing transactions for users, with free basic access and subscriptions at $20 and $100 a month. The app was downloaded 2.8m times in 12 days. Jefferies estimates a billion users by the end of 2027, with 3 per cent paying, would bring $10.8bn in annual revenue. Meta shares have gained over 20 per cent since the launch, adding more than $200bn in market value, with an 11 per cent jump on Monday alone. Banks and other firms that rely on customers’ reluctance to switch providers fell.
Warsaw hit records too. The WIG and WIG20 set all-time highs on Monday and again on Tuesday, gaining 0.2 and 0.09 per cent. Pekao SA and LPP each rose about 1.5 per cent; Pepco added 4.3 per cent.
The cabinet adopted again a bill raising alcohol excise from 1 January 2027 after an earlier presidential veto, this time earmarking 1.4bn zlotys a year for the NFZ in 2027 and 2028. The ethyl alcohol rate would go from 8,811 to 10,109 zlotys per hectolitre of pure alcohol, up about 14.7 per cent, with beer and wine up similarly and cider and perry of up to 5 per cent alcohol up about 26.5 per cent.
The sugar levy would shift to the start of the supply chain, covering producers, importers and firms bringing drinks from the EU, and be calculated on the label’s total natural and added sugars, with exceptions, export refunds and a six-month adjustment period. A health package caps doctors’ pay at generally eight times the minimum wage per full-time post – 38,400 zlotys gross – and two posts, and extends the hospital network to mid-2029.
Źródło: WNP.PL, Fot. PAP/EPA/UKRAINIAN PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SERVICE HANDOUT
