On Thursday, August 27, NEFI filed formal comments with the Commerce Department strongly opposing a proposal that would extend Section 232 tariffs to tanker trailers and tanker semi-trailers.

The letter, signed by President and CEO Jim Collura, points out that every gallon of heating oil and propane sold in the United States moves by tanker trailer at least once, on the leg from refinery or terminal to local bulk storage. This equipment carries the entire delivered fuels supply at some point in its journey from production to consumption. A new trailer can cost $200,000 or more, which puts a 25 percent duty at roughly $50,000 on a single unit, about the entire annual gross margin on seventy residential heating customers. A dealer replacing three trailers is looking at close to $150,000 in additional capital costs.

There is no cushion to absorb it. Residential fuel oil margins averaged $1.07 per gallon during the 2024-2025 heating season and commercial margins $0.70, before drivers, insurance, fuel, maintenance, and facilities are paid. Heating oil spot prices in July 2026 were about 80 percent above December 2025. Cost increases of this magnitude get passed through to the 11.3 million American households that heat with delivered fuels, or absorbed by deferring fleet renewal, or both. Deferred renewal leaves older DOT-406 cargo tanks on residential streets longer. Neither outcome serves an Administration that has made energy affordability a defining priority.

NEFI has asked Commerce to keep tanker trailers and tanker semi-trailers outside the scope of the Section 232 tariffs, and has offered to provide whatever additional information the Department needs as it weighs the proposal. We will provide additional information if and when Commerce acts on the proposal. For more information, please content Liam Dotson, NEFI Manager of Government Affairs at liam.dotson@nefi.com.

Read the letter here.