President Donald Trump announced May 11 he wants to suspend the federal gas tax in response to surging gas prices caused by the U.S. war on Iran and the resultant closing of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran. While Trump as president can’t do it on his own, there is bi-partisan interest in Congress for a bill to suspend the tax.
On the surface, it might look like Trump and other politicians are concerned about the very real impact of skyrocketing gas prices on working families. But suspending the federal gas tax is a phony gesture designed to make it look like they care, while failing to address the actual cause of the problem.
The suffering is real
Brown University researchers have set up a website called the Iran War Energy Cost Tracker which seeks to answer the question: “How much is the Iran war costing American consumers?” The site tracks the extra cost paid for gasoline and diesel since the conflict began on February 28, 202, using actual prices that are updated daily. “Fuel costs are just one part of a war’s consequences,” the researchers say, “but they come directly out of Americans’ pockets. These costs are rising everyday.”
The data show that at the start of the Iran War, gas cost a little under $3.00 a gallon on average in the U.S. Today (May 18) the tracker shows the average price as $4.515/gallon, an increase of 1.533 /gallon or 51.4% over 79 days of war while the price of diesel has increased by almost $2/gallon. It’s important to note that the Tracker’s map shows the regional variation in fuel prices, with California (the most populous state) and Washington state having the highest prices: California at $6.151/gal and Washington at $5.778/gal.
According to the Tracker, this has on average cost over $177.37 per household in the U.S, looking at the increase in prices for gas and diesel together. Including diesel in the impact to all people is important. Even if you never buy diesel at the pump, you are indirectly impacted by that 50% price increase in diesel fuel because much of what we buy at the grocery store and order online is transported on trucks using diesel fuel.The price increase for diesel is handed down to consumers in higher prices for food and other goods.
The total “consumer burden” of the war is now over $40 billion.
This is more than the cost of the U.S. government’s military expenses in the Iran War, an immoral and very expensive war against the people of Iran, costing $29 billion so far. The deadly war abroad killing working class people in Iran is also a war here at home, taking food out of the mouths of our families as folks have to choose between buying groceries and gassing up to be able to get to work.
What is the federal gas tax?
The federal gas tax is a 18.4 cents/gal tax on gas and 24.4 cents/gal for diesel. Any sales tax on consumer gas purchases is a regressive tax – that is consumers are taxed at the same rate whether they are rich or poor.
This is in contrast to what is called a progressive tax, like an income tax, in which people with higher incomes are supposed to be taxed at a higher rate. While the federal gas tax is regressive, suspending it might not make a very big difference for working class drivers; while the price of gas has nearly doubled, saving $1.80 on a ten gallon fill up isn’t going to do much to offset that. That’s why calling to suspend the tax is an empty gesture, designed to make the politicians look like they care without actually doing much. In fact, there’s no guarantee that a bill will even pass!
One reason some elected officials might vote against suspending the tax is that the federal gas tax is the primary funding source for transportation infrastructure such as highways and public transit. While the bills say they will replace the lost tax dollars with general funds, the reality is we need much much more to support a vast expansion of public transit and to shore up crumbling roads and bridges.
What could Trump and Congress do right now to alleviate the affordability crisis? The best thing they could do is to end the war on Iran immediately and normalize relations with Iran.
What a socialist government in the United States would do about high gas costs
Even if they truly meant well, Trump and other politicians are constrained by the capitalist system that their form of government is designed to protect. A socialist government would be able to tackle the problem from all angles.
First, all over the planet, we need to address the climate crisis. We need to work to end dependence on fossil fuels. This would mean implementing economic plans that would help people get out of their cars by emphasizing the development of high quality public transit including high speed rail, and redesigning our cities to make them truly bike and pedestrian friendly.
This would also entail looking at housing patterns, to de-normalize the idea of people moving to distant suburbs and then car commuting to work. If we take the profit motive out of the equation, there is no reason why people can’t live in beautiful and safe housing that allows them to live a reasonable distance from work, shopping and other necessities of life, as we phase out the use of fossil fuels with all deliberate speed.
Featured image: “$6.67 Gas price.. as of April 2026” by David Fulmer, CC BY 4.0
