Trump Waives Russia Sanctions And Tariffs

An executive order signed Friday indefinitely suspended the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act’s penalties — including a 500% tariff on Russian goods and 100% levies on buyers of Russian oil and gas — days before they were due to take effect on Sunday.

President Donald Trump has waived key Russia-related US sanctions and tariffs days before they were to take effect under a law he signed last month, including duties on the country’s goods and penalties for buying its oil and gas.

In an executive order released by the White House on Friday, Trump said the waiver was in the national interests of the United States. “I have submitted to the Congress a certification that the issuance of such a waiver at this time is in the national interests of the United States,” the order said, adding that the waiver “will remain in effect until Trump or his top officials determine that further action is appropriate.”

What was suspended

The legislation — the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026, signed in mid-September — would have imposed tariffs of up to 100% within 30 days on all goods brought into the US from the five largest importers of Russian crude oil or gas, as well as on any country that knowingly bought Russian oil or gas 30 days after enactment, or that ranked among the top five countries helping Russia evade sanctions. Reporting on the order indicates it also established, and simultaneously blocked, a tariff of up to 500% on Russian goods entering the US. The law allows the president to waive sanctions simply by informing Congress that he has determined they are not in the national interest.

The politics behind the timing

Weeks before US midterm elections in which Trump’s Republicans are battling to maintain their narrow grip on both chambers of Congress, the new measures could have risked further raising oil prices as Americans face increased costs largely attributed to the US-Israeli war on Iran, analysts have said.

Trump, however, has been warming toward Moscow while publicly criticizing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, including suggesting Kyiv needs a new leader. The waiver comes about a week after an October diesel agreement with Russia in which Trump agreed to lift sanctions on Russian exports and Russia agreed to supply diesel to global markets in an effort to lower fuel prices. Several US senators, including some Republicans, criticised that deal as helping fund Russia’s war effort.

Reaction

US Representative Don Beyer, a Virginia Democrat, blasted the waiver as capitulation: “Trump’s latest surrender to Putin again betrays our Ukrainian partners and defies clear congressional intent of legislation designed to punish Russia for its illegal war of aggression,” he said.

Putin’s investment envoy, Kirill Dmitriev, called the waiver “a truly historic moment,” posting on X that the legislation could have effectively brought all economic cooperation between Russia and the US to a halt.

China and India, among the biggest buyers of Russian oil, had raised concerns about the bill. Beijing has said it “consistently opposed long-arm jurisdiction that lacks a basis in international law,” while India warned Washington that new tariffs could impact bilateral ties.

Why it matters

The waiver effectively neutralises the most consequential economic lever Congress designed to squeeze Moscow’s war financing — and does so with the law’s own mechanism, exercised before the penalties ever bit. Because the statute lets the president act by certification alone, the reversal required no new vote in Congress and no negotiation with Beijing, Delhi or Brasília. The practical result is threefold: Russian exporters keep US market access; the five largest buyers of Russian hydrocarbons avoid secondary tariffs; and the diesel agreement now supplies the only sanctioned channel US policy has actively opened with Moscow. The primary backer of the bill, Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, died in July and did not live to see either his signature on the statute or its suspension.