U.S. independent refiners like Phillips ( PSX.N ) and Valero ( VLO.N ) have offered mixed support for Republican efforts to boost American jobs and products, expressing concerns about how a border tax on imports could upend the energy ecosystem. The comments by refining executives in a wave of recent earnings calls offer the first glimpse of the balancing act U.S. refiners must perform under the Trump Administration: Applaud pro-business proposals while raise alarms about protectionist policies that may hurt American consumers – and perhaps their own balance sheets. Congressional Republicans and the Trump administration are considering a basket of tax reforms, the centerpiece of which is a 20 percent tax on imports, to try to drive domestic manufacturing and energy industry growth. The tax would be offset by cutting income taxes on exports. Refining executives warned it would have significant consequences for the U.S. refining industry that imports […]