The price of crude oil is the biggest determiner of what consumers pay at the pump for gasoline and diesel. It’s also a major contributor to petrochemical manufacturing costs.
Members of Congress right now are debating a series of taxes designed to make the crude oil that runs through U.S. refineries more expensive. And they’re not stopping there. They’re also exploring a 20-cent per pound tax on American-made plastics. Can you think of a worse time to be doing this?
President Biden says he opposes gas taxes, is against higher taxes for working families and was just asking OPEC to increase oil production to ease prices at the pump. Congress should not be considering taxes that would have the opposite effect.
Adding new taxes to plastics and any barrel of oil that runs through an American refinery is the same as raising taxes on American families. Families will just be feeling that pain at the pump and in the prices of everyday goods made with plastic.
Raising the price of crude oil and plastics for American refineries and petrochemical manufacturers won’t just hurt consumers, it will also give a leg up to China’s fuel and petrochemical companies.. Refining and petrochemical manufacturing are global industries. If taxes lead to higher operational costs for U.S. facilities, it will be a challenge for us to remain competitive with countries that don’t face the same expenses. That means we could be sacrificing jobs and energy security.
China is investing billions in new refineries and petrochemical sites. In contrast, our elected officials are considering policies that will make it harder to manufacture in America and could shut our facilities down. These taxes should be a non-starter.
AFPM makes it easy to email your members of Congress and urge them to say no to new taxes on American-refined energy and American-made plastics, use this simple form.