WASHINGTON — A newly established federal Department of Energy Dominance on Monday published a question-and-answer guide explaining the administration’s agreement to buy Russian diesel, which the department called “the purest expression of American energy dominance to date, because we chose it.”
President Donald Trump announced on Friday that Russia would supply diesel in stages: an initial batch of more than 300,000 tons, 500,000 tons in November, and 1 million tons after that. The Treasury Department issued a license temporarily waiving sanctions on Russian diesel through April 2027, including for import into the United States. The agreement came weeks after a law authorizing penalties on countries that buy Russian oil was signed. Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican, said the move may break the law. Analysts have said the volumes are too small to move diesel prices, which averaged $6.32 a gallon on Oct. 6, according to AAA. The president publicly thanked the Russian president for the arrangement.
The department’s guide reads, in part:
Isn’t the United States the largest oil producer in the world?
Yes. That is exactly why we can afford to buy from someone else. Anyone can use what they have. Dominance is choosing.
Didn’t we just pass a law penalizing countries that buy Russian oil?
We did, and we are enforcing it vigorously. The law has been reviewed by our lawyers, who confirmed that it applies to “countries that buy Russian oil,” a category that, legally, refers to other countries. The United States has never been another country. It is the original country.
A senator from the president’s own party says this may be illegal. Is it?
We have great respect for the senator. We have issued him a waiver through April.
Will this lower the price of diesel?
Analysts say the amounts are too small to make a difference. Those analysts are thinking about prices with their heads. We are asking Americans to think about prices with their hearts, where diesel is already much cheaper.
What happened to “Buy American”?
Nothing. The diesel becomes American the moment it enters an American truck. This is the same principle by which a foreign car becomes American when someone puts a flag sticker on it, and by which a man becomes a cowboy when he buys the hat.
What about “energy independence”?
We have achieved independence from the idea that we needed it.
Earlier this month, the president also let truckers run tax-exempt red-dyed diesel on highways. Is the diesel tax gone?
It has been deferred. Deferred is like gone, except that later you get a letter. We are told the letter will be very warm.
Who should I thank?
The president has already thanked the supplier personally, so the supplier is taken care of. You may thank the president. Thank-you notes may be sent to the department, which will forward them to whoever is in charge of deciding where thank-you notes go.
Why is it called the Department of Energy Dominance?
“The Department of Buying Diesel From Russia” tested poorly.
Is there anything else Americans should know?
Yes. The waiver runs through April 2027. If the arrangement is extended, it will be because it worked. If it is not extended, it will be because it worked so well we no longer need it. Either way, it worked. That is dominance.
The department said it would update the guide weekly, or whenever the price changes, whichever it is asked about first.