Russia's commitment to boost global diesel supply, as announced by President Trump on Oct.

9, may do little to ease prices in the U.S.

in the short term, according to energy experts."If we get diesel from Russia, basically it means that their existing customers are not going to get it and they'll have to go somewhere else, and that will keep the price basically where it is now," Michael Lynch, distinguished fellow at Energy Policy Research Foundation, a nonpartisan research institution focused on energy and economics, told The Associated Press.Mr.

Trump said Friday on Truth Social that Russia will "immediately supply" more than 300,000 tons of diesel, an additional 500,000 tons in November, and 1 million tons "immediately thereafter." "Between our TOTAL CONTROL of the Strait of Hormuz, and this great announcement on Russian Energy, Diesel Prices for Americans and, indeed, the World, will be COMING DOWN, IN RECORD NUMBERS, AND FAST!" he wrote.A White House official said the plan will lower diesel costs for American farmers, truckers and other workers."Adding hundreds of thousands of tons of diesel fuel to the global markets will lower prices," the official told CBS News in an email.

"The Treasury Department issued an [Office of Foreign Assets Control] license allowing Russia to immediately begin selling diesel to the United States and the world — which they were previously unable to do."Shift in policyThe agreement represents an abrupt shift in policy by the U.S., which, from the start of Russia's war with Ukraine, had banned imports of Russian oil.

President Trump in September signed a bill, named after the late Sen.

Lindsey Graham, into law that allows the Trump administration to impose tariffs of up to 100% on the five largest purchasers of Russian oil and natural gas.The national average for diesel in the U.S.

reached a record high of $6.53 per gallon on Sept.

22, according to AAA.

As of Monday, it was $6.27 a gallon, up from $3.73 a gallon in late February, just before the U.S.

and Israel attacked Iran.

Diesel costs are even higher in states such as California, where the average price is $8.38 a gallon.

Higher diesel costs put upward pressure on prices for a range of goods, from food to lumber, because the fuel is widely used across the agriculture, construction and transportation industries.Tapping Russia for diesel is drawing pushback from lawmakers, with a bipartisan group of six senators on Sunday calling for the Trump administration to "immediately reverse course" on the plan.

"The United States....