Trump waives key Russia sanctions and tariffs under Graham Act

The executive order signed Oct. 16 invokes Section 115 of the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act. It waives duties under Sections 112 and 113, and the application of sanctions provisions in Sections 102(a), 102(d), 102(e), 103 through 111, and 117. Those sections cover measures including duties on Russian goods and on goods from certain countries buying Russian energy or facilitating sanctions evasion, as well as sanctions and restrictions on specified Russian-linked persons and entities.[1][2]

The order also lists duties of 500% on Russian goods and 100% on goods from certain major buyers of Russian oil and gas or facilitators of evasion. But Section 4 waives application of the duties in Sections 112 and 113 and of the order’s corresponding duties. The stated rates therefore describe measures in the order; they do not mean those tariffs are currently being collected under the waived provisions.[1][2]

Section 115 permits a waiver if the president first submits a written certification that it is in the U.S. national interest and a report explaining why. The executive order says Trump submitted both to Congress. The order does not attach the report, so this review could verify the stated submission but not assess the report’s explanation.[2][1]

Trump signed the act on Sept. 18. Several of its provisions require presidential or agency review, sanctions decisions, or duties within 30 days of enactment, placing key triggers on Oct. 18. The Oct. 16 order arrived two days before that date and states that its waivers remain in effect until the president or the secretary of state determines further action is appropriate.[2][1]

The act’s waiver clause gave the president discretion to set aside any sanctions provision with respect to a foreign person, any restriction with respect to a person, or any duty under its Russia sanctions title, subject to the reporting process. The order uses that authority across a broad set of provisions rather than repealing the statute.[2][1]

The Associated Press reported that the order followed Trump’s announcement the prior week that Russia would supply diesel to U.S. and global markets. That announcement and the new statutory waivers are separate developments: Treasury’s General License 135 authorizes specified Russian-diesel transactions, while the Oct. 16 order addresses measures created by the Graham Act. The order itself does not establish that any announced diesel shipment has occurred.[4][3][1]

On Oct. 18, Trump wrote that he was negotiating peace between Russia and Ukraine and did not want to drive Russia away from the bargaining table. The Associated Press reported the post as his public defense of the Graham Act waiver. The executive order itself cites a national-interest certification and says a report was sent to Congress, but it does not attach that report. The post adds a public explanation; it does not show what effect the waiver had on negotiations.[5][1][2]

The administration also offered different public accounts of the separate Russian-diesel arrangement. Energy Secretary Chris Wright called access to diesel exports a carrot intended to encourage Russia to reduce the war effort or reach an energy ceasefire. Rubio said the diesel would have been sold one way or another and argued the administration needed time to assess the economic effects of new sanctions and tariffs, Axios reported from his remarks and Sunday-show interviews. Treasury’s General License 135 and the Graham Act waiver are distinct measures; neither the officials’ explanations nor the license establish that any shipment has taken place.[7][6][3][1]

The White House order expressly preserves sanctions and other measures imposed under earlier executive orders addressing the Russian government’s harmful foreign activities, including sanctions already imposed on people or entities under those orders. The waiver is broad within the Graham Act provisions it names, but it is not a blanket repeal of the existing U.S. Russia sanctions regime.[1]

Reuters and the Associated Press described the action as putting the new sanctions package on hold. The order’s text supplies the legal boundaries: its waivers cover specified statutory sections, remain subject to later presidential or State Department action, and leave the earlier executive-order measures untouched.[8][4][1]