America produces enough oil to meet its needs, so why do we import crude?
"overseas oil, even after shipping costs, is often cheaper than domestically-produced crude"<p>This is all you need to know.<p>If we had an oil export tariff, then we would very quickly become oil independent.  Buyers in other countries are in competition with Americans for this oil, so if you really want to keep the price low in America, we should have such a tariff.  Why should we give away our natural resources like this?<p>Additionally: in these emergency times, a reasonable argument could be made for price controls.