Congress Approved Russia Sanctions. Trump Waived Them Before They Bit.

President Donald Trump has waived sweeping new sanctions and tariffs aimed at Russia, blocking economic pressure Congress had approved just before the law's first measures were due to begin. ^[1][2]

The executive order, signed on October 16, suspends duties including a proposed 500% tariff on Russian goods and 100% tariffs targeting goods from major buyers of Russian energy. The first measures under the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 were due to take effect on October 18. ^[2][3]

The decision follows Trump's announcement a week earlier of a deal with Vladimir Putin to bring Russian diesel to the US market. Trump said the arrangement would help reduce energy prices. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called it a gift to Putin and "an investment in a war that must be ended." The waiver now extends the dispute beyond permission for fuel transactions to the wider economic penalties Congress intended to impose. ^[1][2][3]

The Daily Inference reported on October 10 that Washington had authorized Russian diesel transactions through April 7, 2027, while US, Ukrainian and European negotiators worked on a peace proposal. Zelenskyy said renewed fuel sales would give Moscow money for its war.

What Trump switched off

The order waives both tariffs and a broad range of sanctions and restrictions. These are different tools: tariffs charge duties on imported goods, while sanctions can restrict dealings with designated people and institutions. The act provided for both, reaching Russia itself and countries involved in buying its energy or facilitating sanctions evasion. ^[2]

Its proposed 500% duty on Russian goods would impose a charge equal to five times the value of an import. The separate 100% duty would equal the value of the goods it covered. Both were designed to make the targeted trade sharply more expensive. Trump waived the duties under sections 112 and 113 of the act. ^[2][3]

The 100% tariffs targeted goods from the five largest importers of Russian crude oil and natural gas, as well as the top five facilitators of Russian oil sanctions evasion. For the largest energy buyers, the law's duties would apply if those countries knowingly made new purchases of Russian-origin crude oil or natural gas on or after October 18, 2026. ^[2]

Trump also waived numerous provisions covering sanctions and restrictions on people and institutions. The law included measures aimed at Putin, senior Russian officials, banks and other financial institutions, and the shadow fleet of tankers used to transport Russian oil, according to the BBC. ^[1][2]

Existing US sanctions imposed under earlier Russia-related executive orders remain in place. Trump's order explicitly preserves those measures, so the decision does not amount to lifting all US sanctions on Russia. ^[2]

Congress's pressure meets presidential discretion

Trump signed the act on September 18. It bears the name of Lindsey Graham, the Republican senator from South Carolina who died on July 11, 2026, and was intended to apply economic pressure over Russia's war against Ukraine. ^[1][3]

Congress also gave the president authority to waive its provisions after submitting a national-interest certification and an explanatory report. Trump used that authority. His order says he sent Congress both the certification and a report setting out its basis. ^[2]

The decision runs against the course urged by a bipartisan group of 20 lawmakers. Before the waiver, they called for full implementation without delay, describing the measures as decisive to making Putin take peace talks seriously. ^[1]

The disagreement is over how to move Russia toward an agreement. Those lawmakers wanted the threatened costs imposed. Trump has instead waived them while pursuing an energy arrangement he says can lower prices. ^[1][2][3]

Criticism has been blunt. Senator Richard Blumenthal called the waivers a "craven, cowardly action." Representative Don Bacon said Trump was "prolonging the war, not ending it." Those are their assessments of the decision, not established explanations of Trump's motives or its effects. ^[4][5]

For Kyiv, the argument reaches directly into the resources available to fight the war. Zelenskyy's objection is that renewed Russian fuel sales can provide Moscow with revenue while attacks continue. Trump's stated case for the diesel arrangement centers on energy prices. ^[1][5]

No fixed end date

The order does not publish the detailed reasoning sent to Congress. Whether the diesel arrangement will produce deliveries, lower US fuel prices or materially change Russian revenues is not yet established, nor is the waiver's longer-term effect on relations with Kyiv or enforcement of existing sanctions. ^[2][3][4][5]

The waivers have no fixed expiry date. They remain in force until Trump or designated administration officials determine that further action is appropriate. ^[2]

The order directs officials to monitor countries' purchases of Russian-origin oil and gas and countries facilitating evasion of Russian oil sanctions. They must flag circumstances that could warrant further presidential action, including changes to the waivers. The administration has therefore retained the power to restore pressure, without setting a deadline for doing so. ^[2]