KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — President Joe Biden announced a ban Tuesday on all imports of Russian oil, gas and energy. That means Russian oil will no longer be accepted at ports in the United States.

The move will not only impact Americans as they fill up their tanks but nearly every area of life.

WATE 6 News spoke with Don Bruce, a University of Tennessee professor from the Boyd Center for Economic Research, about the main players contributing to gas prices surging.

Bruce said there are two contributing factors in the current gas situation: the war between Russia and Ukraine and increased demand for gas as the COVID-19 pandemic starts to subside nationwide.

“The price of fuel is built into just about everything that we purchase,” he said. “The main thing is to critically reevaluate our consumption patterns and our driving patterns and make the decision that’s right for the household.”

One of the many industries being impacted by the high gas prices is the food truck industry.

“Running generators and also to pull a rig like this, you have to have a bigger truck, either diesel or a bigger gas engine, they get eight miles a gallon maybe,” said Bubba Springfield, owner and operator of Bubba Q Food Truck.

Springfield said he already had to raise prices once, when meat costs went up. Now, he said he’s faced with the same question since it’s costing him about double to fill his gas tank.

“Where’s that cut-off to where I keep eating the loss versus I pass it on to the customer?” Springfield asked.

Bruce said it’s tough decisions like that people across East Tennessee will soon need to consider.

“We may need to make some cuts somewhere else,” he said. “I think this is not a quick spike that is going to be quickly reversed, I think we’re in this for quite a while. I would not be surprised to see gas prices elevated through the summer months especially.”