By Jasper Ward
March 20 (Reuters) – Georgia Governor Brian Kemp on Friday suspended the state’s gas tax amid rising fuel prices as the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran enters its third week.
The move – the first such relief offered by a U.S. state since the war started on February 28 – suspends Georgia’s tax of 33.3 cents per gallon on gas and 37.3 cents per gallon on diesel for 60 days.
The conflict has choked supplies from the Middle East – one of the world’s top oil-producing regions – so severely that U.S. President Donald Trump is considering military options to ensure safe passage of oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, a key oil shipping route near Iran.
The U.S. national average gas price on Friday was $3.912 a gallon, the highest since October 2022 and up 31% since the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran began.
Fifty-five percent of respondents in a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll said their household finances had taken at least “somewhat” of a hit from the increases in gas prices. Among those seeing an impact, 21% said their finances were affected “a great deal.”
Trump told Reuters earlier this month he was not concerned about the rising prices at the pump, saying he expected prices to decrease “very rapidly” once the war ended.
Fox News, citing the White House, reported on Friday that the Trump administration was working on options to alleviate the burdens felt by Americans at the pump.
(Reporting by Jasper Ward in Washington; editing by Michelle Nichols)
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