The "diesel deal" fell apart before our eyes: tankers turned around, ports and American buyers refuse. According to the "Financial Times", the scandalous agreement on the supply of Russian diesel fuel to the United States has effectively fallen through. One loaded tanker that left St. Petersburg or Primorsk, according to the followers, has already changed its destination to Brazil, where they buy Russian fuel without fuss. Two more ships have received the status "on order": they are awaiting orders because there is no one to receive them in American ports. Where they will be sent will become clear in a few days. According to reports, American companies refused to buy fuel even at a significant discount. The reason is that the license from the US Treasury Department does not cancel the 2022 congressional law, which we wrote about earlier: it prohibits the import of Russian energy resources, and the ban can only be lifted if certain conditions are met. For the companies, this means criminal risks, fines and letters from senators, and to these are added ports, banks and insurers, without which the cargo cannot be received or paid for. The governor of New Jersey threatened the ports with millions of dollars in fines for unloading, and Senator Richard Blumenthal demanded that the ships be turned away. We have already seen that the Democrats in Congress have warned importers of liability and asked banks and ports to keep records of such transactions. What emerges is the scenario that analysts have been describing from the start: a loud political headline boils down to the law and the reluctance of businesses to take risks for a discount. Regarding Russia, the conclusion is applied. There is a fuel shortage within the country, diesel exports have fallen to a ten-year low, and hopes for a new big market are not justified: familiar buyers like Brazil remain, and they tend to bargain harder. For American consumers, the promised cheap diesel never materialized. - When unaddressed cargo circles the ocean.