‘Enough is enough’: Biden calls for tax on oil companies getting rich off ‘windfall of war’

‘Their profits are a windfall of war — the windfall from a brutal conflict that is ravaging Ukraine and hurting tens of millions of people around the globe’

(Reuters)

President Joe Biden on Monday said he now supports enacting a tax on excess profits made by oil companies that have seen record revenues in the months since Russia’s war on Ukraine caused prices to spike.

Speaking from the Roosevelt Room of the White House alongside Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, Mr Biden said the US oil industry “has not has not met its commitment to invest in American support the American people” even as they have reported “record profits” that go beyond “a fair return for hard work”.

“Rather than increasing our investments in America or giving American consumers a break. Their excess profits are going back to their shareholders and they're buying back their stock so the executive pay is going to skyrocket,” he said. “Give me a break, but enough is enough”.

Mr Biden said he has “no problem with corporations turning a fair profit and getting a return on their investment and innovation,” but stressed that that was “not remotely what is happening”.

Continuing, he called the excess profits reported by oil companies a result of the Russian war on Ukraine rather than the result of anything “new or innovative”.

“Their profits are a windfall of war — the windfall from a brutal conflict that is ravaging Ukraine and hurting tens of millions of people around the globe,” he said.

The president added that he believes it is oil companies’ responsibility to act “in the interest of their consumers, their community and their country ... by increasing production and refining capacity,” and said that oil companies should “pay a higher tax on their excess profits” if they are unwilling to take the opportunity to lower prices for consumers.

“My team will work with Congress to look at the options that are available to us and others,” he said. “It's time for these companies to stop war profiteering, meet the responsibilities in this country, and give the American people a break,” he said. He added that Americans would hear more on the issue when Congress returns after the midterm elections.