Trump waives the Graham law's Russia tariffs and key sanctions two days before they were due to start

President Donald Trump on Friday waived the steepest penalties in the Russia sanctions law he signed last month, setting aside 500% duties on Russian goods and 100% tariffs on the biggest buyers of Russian oil and gas two days before they were due to apply, in an executive order that told Congress the move serves U.S. "national interests."

What the order switches off

The order, titled "Implementing the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026," first restates the duties the law calls for: a 500% ad valorem increase on goods from Russia; a 100% increase on goods from the five largest importers of Russian crude oil and natural gas if they knowingly make new purchases on or after Oct. 18; and a 100% increase on goods from the top five countries that help Russia evade oil sanctions. Each is made subject to the waivers in Section 4 of the same order.

Section 4 then waives them. It sets aside "any duties" under the law's two tariff sections, 112 and 113, and waives a long list of its sanctions provisions: sections 102(a), 102(d), 102(e), 103 through 111, and 117. Trump said he had sent Congress a certification that the waiver "is in the national interests of the United States," along with a report explaining why, which is the step the law's Section 115 requires before a president can waive its penalties.

The waivers stay in place until the president or the secretary of state, in consultation with the Treasury secretary and the U.S. trade representative as appropriate, "determine that further action is appropriate." The order hands the law's waiver power to the secretary of state and tells the trade representative to keep tracking which countries buy Russian oil and gas and which help Russia get around sanctions, and to flag anything that "might indicate the need for further action."

The order also leaves existing measures alone. It says nothing in it affects sanctions imposed under executive orders tied to the national emergency on Russia that Trump continued on March 24, 2026, including on all persons already sanctioned under them.

Why the secondary tariffs mattered

The secondary tariffs were the part of the law with the widest reach. They would have hit all goods that a targeted country ships to the U.S., not just its energy trade, and the biggest buyers of Russian oil and gas include China, India and Turkey, CBS News reported. Both Beijing and New Delhi had pushed back on the bill: China said it "consistently opposed long-arm jurisdiction that lacks a basis in international law," and India warned that new tariffs could affect bilateral ties, according to Reuters.

Energy prices are the backdrop. Brent crude, the global benchmark, settled at $109.86 a barrel on Friday, up 3.72% on the day, amid worries about supplies from the Middle East. The waiver also came a week after Trump eased sanctions on Russian diesel and announced a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin to bring Russian diesel to the U.S. market, as CBS News noted. With midterm elections less than three weeks away, applying the new penalties risked pushing oil prices higher, analysts had said, Reuters reported.

How Moscow, Kyiv and Congress responded

CBS News reported that Kirill Dmitriev, whom Reuters described as Putin's investment envoy, wrote on social media: "The Trump administration's suspension of the Graham Act is an important and truly historic moment." Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the decision "unfortunate" and said the law "could have helped enormously," CBS News reported.

On Capitol Hill, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, said in a statement that by waiving the sanctions Trump "is thumbing his nose at Congress's direction that he ratchet up pressure on the Kremlin." Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, called the move a "craven, cowardly action," and Rep. Don Bacon, a Nebraska Republican, wrote on X that "the president is prolonging the war, not ending it," NBC News reported. Sen. Darline Graham, a South Carolina Republican who co-sponsored the bill named for her late brother, had not criticized the decision, the network said.

What it means for the law

Congress passed the act with large bipartisan majorities, and TickerGrove reported in September that its 30-day clock on the Russia tariffs would run out on Oct. 18. The law itself gave the president a way out: a written national-interest certification to Congress. The order uses that route rather than repealing anything, so the tariff and sanctions authorities stay on the books and can be applied later if the administration changes course.