Diesel hit at all-time high Wednesday, at $6.52 a gallon, according to AAA. A year ago it was $3.69. That’s a 77% jump on the fuel that moves nearly everything you buy. Gasoline is up too, averaging $4.47, about $1.30 above the same stretch in 2025.

But crude isn’t the culprit here. Refining is. The U.S. war in Iran has disrupted shipments out of Middle Eastern refineries, and Ukrainian drone strikes have knocked out roughly 40% of Russia’s refining capacity. That’s enough to take at least 10% of the world’s refining offline. Russia has since banned its own diesel exports, tightening the squeeze further.

President Trump said Tuesday he’s called for halting U.S. diesel exports, while the administration is drafting a 90-day ban, reports CNBC. The oil industry isn’t on board. The American Petroleum Institute and Energy Secretary Chris Wright both oppose a blunt ban, warning that refiners would simply cut output—which would shove gasoline prices higher instead. Fortune reports the move has rattled the entire sector.

And even if you’ve never pumped diesel, it affects you. According to PBS News, fewer than 3% of U.S. passenger cars run on it, but shipping, agriculture and construction do. So do 4.8 million American homes that heat with oil. Whether or not the 90-day ban actually gets adopted remains to be seen.

Xi Jinping's plane touched down at Joint Base Andrews on Wednesday evening, and Donald Trump was standing on the tarmac to meet him — a break from protocol, alongside Melania Trump, a 100-foot red carpet, both national anthems and a flyover by two B-1 bombers. It's the Chinese leader's first U.S. visit in a decade, and the staging said everything about how badly Washington wants this one to look like a win.

There was a formal meeting and a state dinner last night. The White House invited executives from OpenAI, Apple, xAI, Microsoft, Nvidia and Meta. In terms of negotiations, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the two sides agreed to extend the Busan trade truce to Jan. 10, pushing past its Nov. 10 expiry, and that China has floated what he called a “bigger deal.”

The harder read is leverage, and it hasn’t moved Trump’s way. China’s position has strengthened through rare earths and record trade surpluses and a self-sufficiency push, while U.S. alliances have frayed, which complicates any coordinated pressure campaign. Analysts quoted by NPR expect little of substance beyond the choreography.

Well, this isn’t great news. Employer health benefit costs per employee are set to rise 8.2% next year. It’s the steepest jump since 2003 and the fifth straight year of elevated growth, according to a new Mercer survey. Two-thirds of companies plan to push more of the premium onto employees.

More than 165 million Americans get coverage through a job, so that shift lands directly in paychecks. Health insurance already eats nearly a quarter of employers’ benefit spending—$3.48 of $14.07 per employee hour in June, per Bureau of Labor Statistics data. One CEO confirmed those increases undoubtedly come out of money that could otherwise go to wages.

Meaning your raise may already be spoken for. What’s still unclear is how much of the 8.2% individual employers absorb versus pass along, and open enrollment is where you’ll find out.