U.S. oil companies are frantically lobbying congressional allies and the White House against President Donald Trump’s plan to slap escalating tariffs on Mexican exports, saying it would hike the price of gasoline and strain refiners reliant on crude from the country. The oil industry’s pushback adds to the pressure on Republicans mulling legislation to counter Trump’s threatened 5% tariff, which would raise the cost of roughly 712,000 barrels of crude and petroleum products imported daily from Mexico, along with imported mineral fuels valued at $16 billion last year.
Oil lobbyists are warning top Trump administration officials and congressional allies of widespread economic harm, both for refineries reliant on Mexican crude and U.S. motorists hit with higher gasoline prices. In appeals to the White House, lobbyists are stressing that tariffs on Mexican goods would jeopardize the president’s other priorities: ensuring American “energy dominance” and a thriving manufacturing sector.
“Folks are talking to everybody who will listen,” said Josh Zive, a senior principal at Bracewell LLP, which represents several refining companies. “You are talking about millions and millions of dollars that will have to either be absorbed by U.S. employers or passed on to consumers, and there is no formula by which that is good for the economy or good for these energy users.”