TRENTON, N.J. — Gov. Mikie Sherrill has a message for New Jersey’s ports: don’t buy or unload Russian diesel. In a letter to port and terminal operators Monday, she said doing so would likely break federal law and could bring civil and criminal penalties for businesses and individuals.
Her letter, dated Nov. 2, says the fuel is now headed for the U.S. East Coast, and that the Trump administration urged the shipments. She pledged that the state would use every legal and regulatory tool available to keep its ports, businesses and infrastructure from being exploited.
Sherrill, a Navy veteran, announced the letter in a post on X, writing that the imports would help finance Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war against Ukraine rather than lower costs.
“Our ports must not be complicit.”
Treasury license at center of dispute
The fight is over General License No. 135, issued Oct. 9 by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control. The letter says the license purports to allow the sale, delivery, offloading and import of Russian diesel. That includes shipments into the United States.
Russia has since sent several diesel tankers toward the United States, the letter says, including at least one that may be headed for the New Jersey coast. The letter does not identify the vessel.
Governor cites 2022 import ban
Sherrill’s main argument rests on the Ending Importation of Russian Oil Act. Congress passed it in April 2022, responding to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It bans Russian products listed under Chapter 27 of the U.S. Harmonized Tariff Schedule, and diesel falls in that chapter.
The statute gives neither the president nor Treasury blanket authority to waive the ban through licenses, according to the letter. Short of repeal, she wrote, the only way to lift it is for the president to certify, among other conditions, that Russia has agreed to withdraw its forces from Ukraine. No such certification has been made.
Even if a license could get around the law, Sherrill argued, one that significantly changes U.S. foreign policy toward Russia cannot take effect until Congress completes a review. That process has not started, the letter says.
Penalties could last years
Sherrill pointed to a federal customs law that makes anyone who takes part in an illegal importation liable for a penalty equal to the value of the goods. Violations carry a five-year statute of limitations.
Businesses could face millions of dollars in penalties “long after Trump has left office and his corrupt administration has come to an end,” she wrote.
The letter also links the purchases to U.S. hostilities with Iran. Sherrill described Russia as a known supplier and financial backer of Iran, whose military she said is responsible for killing 23 U.S. servicemembers and wounding dozens of others.
She closed by urging operators to turn away any tanker that seeks to use their facilities for the shipments.
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