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California is home to the busiest container ship ports in the country, with roughly 31% of U.S. container ship imports and exports worth hundreds of billions of dollars traveling through the San Pedro Bay Port complex. California is also home to the highest gas prices in the U.S., including for diesel. And while it may seem like a California-specific issue, it's not. Goods from those busy ports are loaded off the ships and onto trains and trucks en route to their final destination, usually powered by diesel, which means California's fuel prices have far-reaching impacts across the U.S.

Diesel is sometimes called the lifeblood of the economy, and with California prices up almost $2 per gallon year over year, that could mean higher prices for both businesses and consumers. Here's what to know. The U.S. is the world's largest energy producer, but California's fossil fuel industry has shrunk over the years, and refiners have closed, and the state doesn't have major fuel pipelines that connect it to other states, and as a result, over 60% of California's crude is imported from other countries.

That's been complicated by disruptions to tanker traffic in the Strait of Hormuz and hits to Russian refineries by Ukraine, which is tightening global fuel markets. California also has a number of state regulations that lead to higher prices at the pump. The state has the highest diesel taxes in the nation and strict environmental regulations that impact prices. The average cost for a gallon of diesel is $5.34, but in California, it's $6.90.

That can impact consumers across the U.S. Before goods imported through the San Pedro Bay Port complex even arrive at distribution centers, they can travel hundreds or even thousands of miles in trucks fueled by West Coast diesel. The diesel for even just a 100 mile journey in a semi-truck could cost over $100 in California. It can be hard to determine exactly how much more this will cost consumers in the immediate term, given that fuel costs change faster than freight trucking companies adjust their prices.

Retailers can also choose to keep prices steady for the time being and therefore take a hit to margins. But as one expert told me, there's limits on how much companies can do that, and eventually consumers will be faced with these higher costs for everyday goods, for everything from groceries to children's toys.