John Healey says UK is in talks with US over threatened diesel export ban

Chancellor John Healey said on Monday that the UK was in talks with US authorities and preparing for a possible halt to American diesel exports. The discussions matter because Britain buys a substantial share of its imported diesel from the US, while UK pump prices have reached a record high. President Donald Trump has raised the prospect of an export ban, but no such ban had been announced in the BBC’s account of Healey’s remarks.

Speaking to BBC News at the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool on 28 September, Healey said the government was making provision for possible restrictions and had stocks in the UK. He did not say how much diesel was available in those stocks, how it might be used or what specific commitment Britain was seeking from Washington. The BBC said it had contacted the White House for comment.

What the talks have established

The immediate issue is a proposal under consideration, rather than a change in US export rules. The BBC reported that Trump said at the weekend, ‘We’re thinking about it very seriously,’ in reference to a diesel export ban. Healey’s statement confirms discussions and preparations on the UK side; it does not establish that the US has agreed to keep exports flowing or that any restriction will take effect.

Healey said the government was also working with the Americans on measures that could ease the pressure. He pointed to a diplomatic settlement and an end to the fighting with Iran as a solution. His comments linked the threatened trade measure to the wider disruption affecting fuel markets, but gave no timetable for either the talks or a potential US decision.

Britain’s exposure to US diesel

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero’s March 2026 Energy Trends report gives a broader picture of that reliance. It says the Netherlands and the US together supplied 58% of UK white-diesel imports in 2025, equivalent to 32% of UK demand. That combined figure cannot be treated as the amount exposed to a US-only restriction. It also does not show what share of today’s deliveries comes from either country.

The same government report says UK petroleum-product production fell 5.2% in 2025 to a record low of 49.4 million tonnes after the closures of the Grangemouth and Lindsey refineries. It recorded a 2.7% rise in diesel demand, including biofuel, that year, although demand remained 12% below its 2019 level. Those annual figures provide context for Britain’s dependence on imports; they do not establish a new shortage caused by Trump’s proposal.

Government figures also put UK oil stocks at 11.2 million tonnes at the end of 2025, including 6.1 million tonnes of product stocks. About 85% of all stocks were held in the UK. The published total covers more than diesel, so it cannot be read as a measure of the diesel immediately available to replace US cargoes. Healey did not explain how the stocks he mentioned would be deployed.

Record prices add pressure

Reuters reported that the UK’s average diesel price reached 199.18p a litre on Monday, citing the RAC motoring organisation. RAC policy head Simon Williams told Reuters that filling an average family car now cost nearly £110, about £31 more than before the conflict began. The price rise is already affecting motorists; Reuters said diesel costs also feed into transport and logistics because the fuel is widely used in industry and agriculture.

The increase was under way before Monday’s talks were reported. In a statement on 23 September, the RAC put average diesel at 197.31p a litre, 38.6% above its 28 February level of 142.38p. The RAC said then that a sustained fall in oil costs would be needed to bring relief at the pump. Its figures show the scale of the price pressure, but do not attribute that earlier increase to a US export ban that had not been enacted.

Healey called current diesel prices ‘extreme’ and said he was aware of the pressure on households and businesses ahead of the 28 October Budget. The BBC reported that the existing fuel-duty freeze is due to expire at the end of the year, with increases scheduled for January and March. Healey described the coming Budget as a ‘breathing space’ Budget, without setting out a diesel-specific measure in the reported remarks.