Trump extended the ban on Russian ships docking in US ports — keeping a Biden-era measure alive through spring 2027

US President Donald Trump signed the renewal of the ban on Russian-affiliated vessels entering US ports on 15 April, extending it through at least spring 2027. The decision continues a Biden-era emergency declaration, even as the same administration has eased some Russia-related restrictions in recent weeks.

Ban extended for another year

Trump renewed Proclamation 10371, first issued by Biden on 21 April 2022, following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The original order declared a national emergency and authorized the Secretary of Homeland Security to regulate the anchorage and movement of Russian-affiliated vessels at US ports under the Magnuson Act.

The document cited the same rationale Biden used four years ago: Russia's "policies and actions continue to constitute a national emergency by reason of a disturbance or threatened disturbance of international relations of the United States." The ban will now remain in force for at least one additional year.

This is the second consecutive year Trump has extended the measure. In February, he also renewed the broader package of Ukraine-related Russia sanctions for another year, with the document he signed calling Russia an "unusual and extraordinary threat."

Mixed signals on Russia sanctions

The port ban renewal sits alongside a contradictory recent record. In March, the Trump administration eased Russian oil sanctions for 30 days, authorizing countries to purchase an estimated 124 million barrels of Russian oil stranded at sea — a step driven by the US-Iran war's disruption to global energy markets.

The administration has also quietly removed Russian individuals from the US sanctions list, including a former finance minister who ran Russia's third-largest bank — part of a broader pattern of delistings that also reached firms previously sanctioned for supplying Russia's military.