US President pauses Operation Freedom to strike deal with Iran

However, he confirmed that the blockade of Iranian ports will remain in place. Iran is currently considering its response to the US peace proposal.

Brent crude rose 1.5% to $101.60 a barrel on 8 May following an exchange of fire between the US and Iran in the Strait of Hormuz. While President Trump said negotiations are ongoing, the escalation has raised concerns over the safety of Gulf shipping routes.

The Competition and Markets Authority published its latest road fuel market report on 1 May, which showed no evidence of widespread unjustified fuel price increases and found that the Middle East crisis has been the primary cause of higher prices.

Logistics UK continues to engage with the government on the case for a package of measures to support the logistics sector, including: extending the 5p fuel duty freeze; logistics to be formally recognised as a priority fuel user within resilience planning; inclusion in the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme to reduce electricity costs; extension of full expensing to leased zero-emission commercial vehicles; targeted incentives to support uptake of low-carbon fuels; a pause in business rates alongside wider reform to ease cost pressures on the sector; and taking a longer-term approach to mode shift grants. We are also supporting government action to tackle late payments.

To support our engagement with government on this crisis, we are collecting member insight via the Logistics Performance Tracker survey. Please complete our short survey on SurveyMonkey here or via Microsoft Forms here as soon as possible.

Read our latest Middle East update here, which includes data on fuel prices.