A Treasury License Authorizes Russian Diesel Imports. The 2022 Statute Banning Them Is Unchanged.

A Treasury Department license in force since October 9 authorizes Russian diesel transactions, "including importation into the United States," through April 7, 2027. It does not mention the 2022 statute that bans those imports. That statute names exactly one way for a president to end the ban.

What the license does and does not do

OFAC issued General License 135 the same day President Trump announced on Truth Social that Russia would "immediately supply" diesel. The Associated Press reported that the post promised more than 300,000 tons to the American and global market at once. It named 500,000 tons for November and 1 million tons "immediately thereafter." NBC News described the same post as promising supply to the global marketplace.

Paragraph (a) authorizes transactions otherwise barred by two sets of Treasury rules, 31 CFR part 587 and 31 CFR part 589. Paragraph (b) excludes any debit to U.S.-held accounts of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, the National Wealth Fund, or the Ministry of Finance. Neither paragraph refers to a statute.

What the 2022 statute requires

Public Law 117-109, signed April 8, 2022, says in Section 2 that Russian products classified under chapter 27 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule "shall be banned from importation into the United States." Diesel is filed in that chapter, under heading 2710.

Section 3 sets the exit. The president may terminate the ban with a written certification that Russia has agreed to withdraw its forces and end hostilities on terms Ukraine's government accepts. The certification must also say Russia poses no immediate military threat to a NATO member and recognizes Ukrainians' right to choose their own government.

At least 45 days earlier, the president must consult four committees and send them a report explaining the determination. They are House Ways and Means and Foreign Affairs, and Senate Finance and Foreign Relations. Termination takes effect 90 days after certification unless a joint resolution of disapproval becomes law first.

The legal argument, such as it is

The coverage reviewed contains no detailed legal explanation from the administration. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Fox and Friends on Sunday, "We're going to do it with all the legal authorities we have," Al Jazeera reported.

One phrase in Section 2 gives lawyers something to work with. The ban applies "in a manner consistent with any implementation actions issued under Executive Order 14066." The text does not say whether a Treasury license counts as such an action. No one quoted in the coverage makes that argument, so this reading is an inference, not a stated position.

Who says what

Six senators signed a joint statement: Republicans Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Thom Tillis, and John Curtis, and Democrats Jeanne Shaheen and Richard Blumenthal. "Congress was clear: the U.S. should not import oil from Russia until it ends its aggression against Ukraine and ceases threats against our NATO Allies," they wrote. The Associated Press reported that they added the decision "runs directly counter to that law."

Tillis, a North Carolina Republican with months left in his term, told NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday, "I do believe there's a legitimate case for saying the president's not following the law." Moderator Kristen Welker asked if Trump is breaking it. "I believe that he may be," Tillis said. He then pointed to year-end funding talks, saying Trump "needs to understand this is a problem."

Senator John Barrasso, a Wyoming Republican, told CBS's Face the Nation, "The president is balancing and has to make tough decisions." He called the deal "another point of leverage for the president to use against Putin." Representative Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican who voted against the 2022 sanctions bill, backed the move on X: "We should lift sanctions on all petroleum products."

Representative Steny Hoyer, a Maryland Democrat, cited a different law, legislation Trump signed three weeks earlier "imposing the toughest sanctions on Russia's oil and gas." This story did not review that law's text.

What nobody has answered

Whether any of the diesel is bound for U.S. ports is open. The Associated Press says Trump's post named the American market, while NBC News described global supply. How the ban would be applied at the border to a licensed cargo is also unaddressed. No court filing appears in the coverage reviewed, and none of it reports that a Section 3 certification has ever been sent to Congress.

The volume is small. Richard Nephew of Columbia University's Center on Global Energy Policy noted that the diesel appears to total less than the United States uses in a day, the Associated Press reported. He said the deal "puts a big hole in the sanctions regime." The national average hit a record $6.52 a gallon in September and stood at $6.20 on AAA data, Al Jazeera reported.

The license sets one clock and the statute another. Until Congress, a court, or a certification resolves the mismatch, one document says importation is authorized and the other says it is banned. Which controls at a U.S. port has not been tested.