Talk:Gasoline and diesel usage and pricing/Archives/2013

Countries with subsidised gasoline

The use of the word 'subsidy' appears not well defined in the article, and there are resulting inconsistencies. Gasoline per litre pump prices are higher in China, Taiwan and South Korea than they are in the USA, yet gasoline is described as 'subsidized' in those three countries, not in the USA. All references to China in the article seem superfluous, apart from the table entry. The link referenced in the paragraph on China has expired. Omicron9 (talk) 08:18, 2 March 2011 (UTC)

It appears that the article has been changed since that comment above. The article currently does not describe China, Taiwan, or South Korea as subsidizing countries, and now does describe the U.S. as a subsidizing country. However, the section about the U.S. is completely unsourced and seems highly questionable. The section refers to tax breaks given to companies that produce fuel, but until a few minutes ago, it did not refer to any other effects of government policy on fuel – specifically, it did not refer to the taxation of the fuel itself. Fuel sales in the U.S. are taxed at rates higher than the taxes imposed on the sale of most other goods. It is unclear to me whether the net effect of government tax policy in the U.S. is a subsidy or not. In my opinion, since the section about the U.S. is completely unsourced and does not discuss the net effect, the whole section should be removed unless it can be improved. Unless it is clear that the net effect in a country is a subsidy, the country should not be listed as a country that subsidizes fuel sales. —BarrelProof (talk) 18:54, 29 September 2013 (UTC)