During an interview with CNBC released on Monday, Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said that while “all options” are being considered by the Biden administration, he sees a problem with some of the proposals around cutting gas taxes because “most of that money will go into the pocket of producers.”
CNBC Senior White House Correspondent Kayla Tausche asked, [relevant exchange begins around 7:55] “Inflation is very high here in the U.S. We just got another read last week. A lot of this is as a result of the invasion, a lot of it is also as a result of other external forces. That being said, as you discuss options to help American consumers offset this, when will a decision be made on whether to suspend the federal gas tax, where does that policy discussion stand?”
Adeyemo answered, “Kayla, as you mentioned, the cost of high prices is something that the American middle class and working people bear every day and it’s something that the president’s very focused on. That’s why his direction to us was that we should find things to do that have an impact on Russia but minimize the impact here on the United States.”
Tausche then cut in to ask, “But this is one of those options, that, it’s a domestic option. At what point do you think the administration would say, this has gotten bad enough that we need to pull that lever?”
Adeyemo responded, “I want to make clear to you that we’re considering all options and we know the best option to reduce gas prices is to increase the supply. The challenge with some of the proposals I’ve seen that are around tax cuts is that most of that money will go into the pocket of producers. Our goal actually is to make sure that we increase the supply.”
He continued, “That’s why the president has been focused on the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, releasing more oil into the market to reduce the cost. That’s why we’ve called on domestic producers and international producers to put more supply into the market. Today in America, there are 9,000 permits available for domestic producers. In the first year of the Biden administration, more oil and gas was produced than in the first year of the Trump administration.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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