WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has set aside most of the new sanctions, restrictions and duties in the Russia sanctions law he signed last month, using a waiver one day before the measures were due to take effect on Sunday, according to the White House executive order released on Friday.
The order, titled Implementing the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 and dated October 16, waives the application of the new sanctions provided for in the act. In the order, the president said he had sent Congress a certification that issuing the waiver at this time is in the national interests of the United States, together with a report explaining the basis for it, as the law requires.
The law, named for the late Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, cleared the House and Senate with overwhelming bipartisan support before Trump signed it last month. It targets Russian officials, institutions and the oil and gas exports that help fund Moscow’s war against Ukraine. Among the provisions now waived are tariffs of up to 100 percent on the largest importers of Russian oil and gas and duties of up to 500 percent on Russian goods, according to reporting on the order. Older Russia sanctions already in place remain in force.
The waiver says the pause remains in effect until the president, or the secretary of state in consultation with the Treasury secretary and the U.S. trade representative, determines that further action is appropriate. That leaves the measures available as leverage, but with no fixed date for them to begin.
The decision drew criticism from lawmakers in both parties. Representative Don Bacon, a Nebraska Republican, wrote on X that the president was prolonging the war rather than ending it. The move also came about a week after the administration announced a deal under which Russia would supply diesel — 300,000 tonnes immediately and a further 500,000 tonnes during November, toward a total the president put at 3 million tonnes in a short period — a deal Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky had sharply criticised.
Why it matters: the Graham Act was designed to raise the cost to Moscow of continuing the war by squeezing energy revenue and penalising the countries that buy Russian oil and gas. Waiving its central provisions before they start removes that pressure for now, and shifts the question to whether the threat of future sanctions gives Washington more leverage in talks than imposing them would.
What happens next: Congress can press the administration on the certification and the report behind it, and lawmakers who backed the bill can seek to force the issue legislatively. The White House has not said how long the waiver will last. Read the executive order on the White House website and coverage of the order from the New York Post.
