Trump signed an order on Friday waiving the duties and most of the sanctions created by the Graham Act, the Russia and Iran sanctions law he signed in September.
The backstory: Trump signed the Graham Act into law on September 18, 2026. It provided for sanctions on foreign persons and steep duties on goods imported from Russia and from countries that keep buying Russian energy.
By the numbers: The order raises the duty on Russian goods by 500%, adds 100% on goods from the five largest importers of Russian crude and gas that make new purchases from October 18, and 100% on the top five facilitators of Russian oil sanctions evasion.
- Section 4 of the same order then waives those duties and the sanctions provisions in sections 102 through 111 and 117 of the act.
Zoom in: The law lets the president waive any of it after certifying to Congress that the waiver serves the national interests of the United States. The order states that the certification and a supporting report have been submitted.
Yes, but: Measures already imposed under the national emergency on Russian activities that Trump continued in March 2026 stay in force, the order says, including on every person designated under those earlier orders.
- The waivers hold until the president or the secretary of state, consulting Treasury and the trade representative, determines that further action is appropriate.
The big picture: The order lands days after Trump said the United States would import Russian diesel to push energy prices down before the November midterms, the BBC reported.
Why it matters: Congress wrote the toughest Russia trade penalties of the war and the White House switched them off before they ever applied, which leaves fuel prices and Moscow export revenue where they already were.
