US President Joe Biden is set to call for the suspension of federal gas and diesel taxes for three months.
Mr Biden will also ask state governments to suspend their own fuel taxes, according to a report by The Associated Press.
Federal taxes account for 18.4 cents per gallon of gas and 24.4 cents per gallon of diesel.
If these savings were passed on, motorists would save about 3.6% at the pump, where prices are averaging $5 a gallon (around 3.8 litres).
However, politicians in both parties have expressed reluctance towards a fuel tax holiday.
And the last Democratic president, Barack Obama, dismissed it as a “gimmick” that allowed politicians to “say they did something”.
But Mr Biden is under pressure to do something, with the high fuel prices dampening consumer confidence to a point that will make his party nervous ahead of its defence of the House and the Senate in November’s midterms.
Last week, he told AP: “If you notice, until gas prices started going up, things were much more, they were much more optimistic.”
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Oil prices fell slightly on Wednesday following the news, along with continued fears of an economic recession.
Brent crude futures were down $4.62 – or 4% – at $110.03 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate futures fell 4.5% to $104.56 just before lunchtime.
Earlier in the morning, both had lost more than $6 each to hit their lowest points since mid-May.
Some analysts warned that a tax holiday might not be enough, and could even backfire long-term, however.
Commerzbank’s commodities analyst Carsten Fritsch told Reuters that the move could “support prices by stimulating demand for gasoline”.
PVM’s Stephen Brennock said: “The latest in a long line of attempts to temper surging prices at the pumps is having the desired effect.
“Yet whether this knee-jerk reaction will stand the test of time is by no means guaranteed.”
The bosses of seven oil companies will meet White House officials this week to talk about increasing production capacity and reducing fuel prices.
Mr Biden has previously pointed out that, while drivers are struggling with the price of fuel, those at the top of the oil industry are making record profits.
But some have hit back, with Chevron chief executive Michael Wirth saying in a letter to the White House that the Biden administration has “largely sought to criticise and, at times, vilify our industry”.
Mr Biden responded by saying: “He’s mildly sensitive – I didn’t know they’d get their feelings hurt that quickly.”
Source: Independent
