AAA Daily Fuel Gauge Report for Friday, 12/15/2017

National Average Price for Regular Unleaded Current: $5.000; Month Ago: $4.523; Year Ago: $3.075. National Average Price for Diesel Current: $5.798; Month Ago: $5.573; Year Ago: $3.219.

Futures in New York slipped as much as 2.1 percent to the lowest intraday price since March 20. China’s Ministry of Commerce said it would levy 25 percent tariffs on imports of 106 U.S. products including automobiles and aircraft. That wiped out earlier support for prices as Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries output dropped to the lowest in a year in March. “It’s only logical to see profit-taking in light of looming trade tensions and possible financial market turbulence,” said Eugen Weinberg, head of commodities research at Commerzbank AG in Frankfurt. Global equities sank after China unveiled its charges, which match the scale of proposed U.S. tariffs announced earlier this week and ratchets up tension in a brewing trade war between the world’s two largest economies. With products ranging from gas turbines to steel and aluminum affected, the spat threatens to raise costs, slow economic growth and hit oil demand. Click Read More below for additional information.

American Dollar to Canadian Dollar = 0.798114; American Dollar to Chinese Yuan = 0.157180; American Dollar to Euro = 1.100994; American Dollar to Japanese Yen = 0.008218; American Dollar to Mexican Peso = 0.049938.