Biden’s Russian Oil Ban Executive Order Appears to Exempt U.S. Federal Government, Agencies, Contractors
Under Section 1. (a) of Biden’s executive order, “the following are prohibited”:
“the importation into the United States of the following products of Russian Federation origin: crude oil; petroleum; petroleum fuels, oils, and products of their distillation; liquefied natural gas; coal; and coal product;”
“new investment in the energy sector in the Russian Federation by a United States person, wherever located;”
But, Sec. 3 says that “nothing in this order shall prohibit” the federal government from transactions buying oil and other energy products from Russia:
“Sec. 3. Nothing in this order shall prohibit transactions for the conduct of the official business of the Federal Government or the United Nations (including its specialized agencies, programs, funds, and related organizations) by employees, grantees, or contractors thereof.”
Section 6. (a) appears to reinforce the exemption of U.S. executive agencies and departments from Biden’s executive order:
“Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect: (i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof”…
Regardless of whether the two passages were intentionally, or accidentally, included in the executive order, they still seem to, literally and in effect, exempt the federal government from being banned from doing the very thing that American companies and citizens are prohibited from doing.