It’s not just prescription drugs that Americans buy cheaper in Mexico.
Now, hordes of motorists in border states are headed south to fill up their tanks amid a price spike that former President Donald Trump called “unlimited.”
Today’s national AAA average gas price is $4.33 a gallon, with prices the steepest in California, where it can top $7. In Mexico, the price is between $3 and $4, reported ABC10 News in San Diego. In Juarez, Mexico, which is across the border from El Paso, Texas, the price is $3.
“We’re close to El Paso, and yes, we’ve seen more traffic, more people with Texas license plates,” Jonathan Rivas, a manager at a Juarez gas station, told the El Paso Times.
However, the excursion to get cheaper gas isn’t without its drawbacks. In California, drivers can wait in line for almost an entire day to cross back across the border, while El Paso takes up to three hours on weekends.
“Gas was $2 or less for all four years the problem [Trump] was in the White House,” one person wrote to Yahoo Finance. “Explain to me why gas prices were out the roof during the Clinton years, the Obama years and now the Biden years. Also factor in that the whole time George W. Bush was in office gas prices averaged around $1.50 a gallon.”
U.S. taxes add to the pain at the pump, with 18 cents from the federal government and additional taxes from several states, including 51 cents in California. Gov. Gavin Newsom floated the idea of a gas rebate, but California GOP lawmakers want something more drastic: a halt to the state gas tax, at least temporarily.
The Biden administration has blamed the gas spike on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but prices show a steady increase since the time Trump left office. The average price of gasoline in January 2021 was $2.25.
“Well, they’re going unlimited right now,” Trump told Fox News regarding gas prices. “You can’t even project. It could go anything. It could go unlimited.”
