The carve out that lets non Russian diamonds keep clearing United States customs has been extended by a year, to September 2027

The second sanctions document Treasury issued on Wednesday has nothing to do with the first, and it is the one the trade will read.

Russia-related General License 104B extends, to 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time on 1 September 2027, the authorisation that lets certain diamonds enter the United States despite the import prohibition in Executive Order 14068. It replaces General License 104A, dated 27 August 2025, in its entirety, effective 26 August 2026.

The prohibition it works around dates from a determination of 8 February 2024, made under section 1(a)(i)(B) of that order and titled "Prohibitions Related to Imports of Certain Categories of Diamonds".

The test is where the stone was, not where it came from

Two categories are authorised, and both turn on a date and a physical location.

A non-industrial diamond weighing 1.0 carat or more qualifies if it was physically located outside the Russian Federation before 1 March 2024. One weighing 0.5 carats or more qualifies if it was outside Russia before 1 September 2024. In each case the stone must not have been exported or re-exported from Russia since that date. Meet the condition and the importation and entry are authorised, including importation for admission into a foreign trade zone located in the United States.

A note attached to that paragraph keeps the harder rule in view. Non-industrial diamonds of Russian Federation origin remain prohibited from entry, under section 1(a)(i)(A) of the same executive order, and nothing in the licence touches that. So origin and location are two separate tests, and the licence only relaxes the second.

What it does not do

Paragraph (b) is the usual carve back. The licence authorises nothing else prohibited by the Russian Harmful Foreign Activities Sanctions Regulations at 31 CFR part 587, and in particular nothing involving a person blocked under those regulations, unless that is separately authorised.

A second note goes further and says the licence relieves nobody of any other federal law or of the requirements of any other federal agency. Customs paperwork is unaffected.

The licence gives no reason for the extension and no figure of any kind. It is signed for the Office of Foreign Assets Control and runs to two pages.