(AFP) – French leader Emmanuel Macron urged G7 nations to work together to bring down fuel prices in a call with President Donald Trump on Friday, as Washington pressures Europe to tap its strategic diesel reserves and threatens curbs on US exports. The US war in Iran has sent energy prices skyrocketing, coming back to bite Trump at home with high fuel costs a key issue in the run-up to midterm elections next month.
“The president stressed that G7 countries had a common interest in acting in a coordinated way, without export restrictions,” the French leader’s office said after his exchange with Trump. The appeal came as the European Union’s 27 countries were holding crisis talks in Brussels with the European Commission to develop a unified response to US pressure.
“Our European partners should accelerate delivery on their existing commitments and make additional supplies immediately available to address ongoing disruptions,” US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a post on social media Thursday. “American farmers, truckers, and businesses should not be left carrying the burden of a global diesel shortage.”
Macron’s office said France intended to convene a video call of leaders of the G7 group of nations, which also include Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, and Britain, “as soon as possible” to ensure coordination on the matter. Earlier this week, the head of the International Energy Agency (IEA), Fatih Birol, said European nations were yet to release part of the stocks they had agreed to in an earlier bid to ease prices in March.
“A big chunk of the stocks have been released, but still some remain, both in terms of crude oil and products,” Birol told reporters Tuesday after a meeting of EU energy ministers in Dublin.
– ‘Dramatic consequences’ –
The 32 members of the IEA agreed to unlock 400 million barrels of oil from reserves — their largest release ever — in March. About a third was yet to come to market, Birol said, adding further releases were possible with 80 percent of overall IEA stocks “still in our pocket.” Diesel prices in the United States have hit record highs due to the US-Iran war, with Ukrainian attacks on Russian energy infrastructure also blamed for pushing up prices.
The issue has emerged as a major drag in the upcoming midterm elections for Trump’s Republican Party, which risks losing control of Congress. The president on Wednesday floated the possibility of banning exports of diesel, which is used in trucks and other hauling vehicles — something the EU, which relies heavily on fossil fuel imports, has slammed as a “bad idea.”
EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic told reporters Thursday on the sidelines of the G20 trade ministers gathering in Milwaukee that any move by the US to ban diesel exports would be “unexpected for Europeans.” “It would have very dramatic consequences for our economic performance,” Sefcovic said. Reports said the Trump administration wants France and Germany in particular to tap their stockpiles of diesel to try to curb prices.
“It is in Europe’s best interest to work with the United States as we pursue multiple pathways to boost the supply of refined products and lower costs for consumers,” a US official told AFP. At G20 trade talks in Milwaukee, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer struck a conciliatory tone, saying there was an “eagerness on both sides to work together” on the diesel issue. Average US diesel prices have surged more than 70 percent to $6.39 a gallon since the start of the Iran war, according to AAA motor club data.
– Umberto Bacchi with Valerie Leroux in Paris
© 2024 AFP
