New Jersey's governor tells ports to turn away Russian diesel Trump's Treasury allowed, with diesel at $6.29

New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill, a Democrat, has warned the state's port and terminal operators not to take Russian diesel, saying doing so would break federal law even though the Treasury Department has licensed the trade. CBS News reported that the letter went out Nov. 2 and warns of civil and criminal charges. Bloomberg ran the story Nov. 3 under the headline "NJ Governor Warns Ports Against Russian Diesel Allowed by Trump." We could not read Bloomberg's text, so everything below comes from CBS, gCaptain, ROI-NJ and the primary documents.

What the Trump administration allowed

The permission is General License No. 135, issued Oct. 9, 2026 by Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control and signed by Director Bradley T. Smith. It authorizes transactions otherwise barred under two Russia sanctions programs "related to the sale, delivery, offloading, or importation, including importation into the United States, of diesel fuel of Russian Federation origin," through 12:01 a.m. EDT on April 7, 2027. It does not authorize debits to U.S. accounts of Russia's central bank, National Wealth Fund or Ministry of Finance.

That is about six months of cover. CBS says Trump had posted that Vladimir Putin agreed to release "millions of tons of diesel." We covered the deal terms and the bipartisan backlash in an earlier story.

What Sherrill said and where

According to CBS, the letter was addressed to port and terminal operators in New Jersey. It cites the congressional ban on Russian energy imports passed in April 2022 and says importing the fuel could bring civil and criminal charges. CBS quotes her urging operators to "turn away any tanker" involved, and quotes her statement: "New Jersey will not stand by while Donald Trump supports Vladimir Putin at the expense of Americans."

gCaptain adds that she said "every port and terminal operator, intermediary, and buyer is on notice," and that companies in an unlawful import could face penalties equal to the cargo's value under federal customs law, potentially millions of dollars. ROI-NJ says her argument is that the 2022 Ending Importation of Russian Oil Act covers petroleum products, including diesel, and that Treasury cannot lift it alone without Congress completing its review. It also reports she warned dockworkers could face criminal charges if Russian tankers dock. She pledged "legal and regulatory" measures but, per these reports, named none.

The administration's answer

An administration official told CBS the license complies with all applicable U.S. law. White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers told CBS the president "secured a deal to supply global markets with diesel, lowering prices for the United States and the world." Treasury has not, in the reports we read, answered the letter specifically. Earlier coverage we found said the administration reads the 2022 law's definition of crude oil as leaving diesel out; we did not confirm that from a primary text, so treat it as the administration's reported position.

The port angle: one tanker, and it may not come

gCaptain, citing a Windward assessment dated Nov. 3, says the Malta-flagged Agioi Fanendes loaded roughly 40,000 metric tons at Primorsk, Russia, on Oct. 22. It first listed New York as its destination, with an arrival around Nov. 7, then changed its signal to "for orders." Windward says it is the only one of three previously reported U.S.-bound Russian diesel tankers still heading toward the East Coast, and that no Russian diesel has yet been delivered to the U.S. under the license. ROI-NJ, relaying Shore News Network, still has it due at the Port of New York and New Jersey by Nov. 7. Those accounts conflict, and the cargo's final destination is unconfirmed.

Who would have to act matters. Reporting we saw said East Coast diesel tankers typically unload at privately run terminals in places like Bayonne and Linden, not at public docks. A separate Oct. 24 letter from lawmakers asked banks and port authorities, including the Port of New York and New Jersey, to preserve records on Russian diesel deals. That was Congress, not the state.

Diesel price context

The U.S. Energy Information Administration's weekly survey, released Nov. 3, put U.S. on-highway diesel at $6.292 a gallon on Nov. 2, down 6.0 cents from $6.352 on Oct. 26 and up from $6.276 on Oct. 19. That is $2.539 above a year ago, which puts it near $3.75 then. The Central Atlantic region, which includes New Jersey, was $6.486, down from $6.508 on Oct. 19. CBS cites AAA at $6.29 and a record $6.53 in September.

The scale is small. A single 40,000-ton cargo is at most a few hundred thousand barrels of product by our rough conversion (about 7.45 barrels per metric ton of diesel, 42 gallons a barrel, around 12.5 million gallons). Set against what the U.S. burns, it will not move the weekly average by itself. See our Main Street breakdown for what $6.35 diesel does to a fleet's budget.

What is unknown

• Whether New Jersey has any enforceable power to stop a tanker. Federal customs and sanctions law is federal; reports describe her authority as unclear.
• Whether the tanker will reach any U.S. port, and who the buyer is.
• Whether a court would read the 2022 law as covering diesel, and whether a Treasury license can override it. No ruling has been reported.
• Whether terminal operators will publicly refuse cargo. We found no operator statement.

For fleet owners, the practical point is that nothing here changes the pump price this week. Contracts and surcharges should keep following the EIA weekly number rather than assuming cheaper Russian-origin supply.

Sources: U.S. Treasury OFAC General License No. 135 (Oct. 9, 2026); CBS News; gCaptain; ROI-NJ; U.S. EIA Gasoline and Diesel Fuel Update. Unit conversions are ours. This is market information, not investment advice.