President Trump on Friday signed an executive order on the new Russia sanctions law that spells out the steep tariffs Congress wrote into the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 and then waives them, along with most of the law's new sanctions. In the order, Trump says he has certified to Congress that the waivers are in the national interests of the United States.
On paper, the order raises the duty on goods from Russia by 500 percent. It sets a 100 percent duty on goods from the five largest importers of Russian crude oil and natural gas if those countries knowingly make new purchases on or after Oct. 18, and the same rate on goods from the five countries ranked as the top facilitators of Russian oil sanctions evasion. Section 4 then waives all of those duties, along with the sanctions and restrictions set out in 13 provisions of the law. The waivers last until the president, or the secretary of state in consultation with the Treasury secretary and the trade representative, decides that further action is appropriate.
Sanctions imposed under earlier executive orders stay in place. The order says nothing in it affects measures taken under the orders addressing the national emergency over the Russian government's harmful foreign activities, which Trump continued on March 24, including for every person already sanctioned under them.
The order also makes the U.S. trade representative, working with the secretaries of state, Treasury and energy, responsible for tracking purchases of Russian oil and gas and the countries that help Moscow get around sanctions. The trade representative is to report regularly and to tell the president promptly about anything that might call for further action, including on the waivers. The order delegates many of the president's authorities under the law to those officials.
Trump signed the measure on Sept. 18. It passed the Senate 86-11 and the House 262-159, Newsweek reported, and it carries the name of Sen. Lindsey Graham, the South Carolina Republican who championed it before his death in July. Section 115 of the law lets the president waive any of its sanctions, restrictions or duties once he sends Congress a written certification that the waiver is in the national interest, along with a report explaining the basis. The order says both have been submitted.
The White House did not immediately explain how pausing the sanctions served the national interest, the Associated Press reported, and the order was posted late in the evening with a note that the report had gone to Congress. Before the order was issued, a White House official told Newsweek that the president signed the act and that the administration would comply with its requirements.
The waiver comes a week after Trump announced a diesel arrangement with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control then issued General License 135 at Trump's direction, authorizing the sale, delivery, offloading and importation of Russian diesel. Trump has said Russia would first supply more than 300,000 tons, followed by larger shipments, and the White House has defended the arrangement as a way to add supply and lower prices. "Lowering prices for America's great farmers, truckers, and families remains a top priority," spokeswoman Taylor Rogers told Newsweek on Thursday. Responding to Republican critics at the White House on Monday, Trump said, "Anything that could help our farmers, our ranchers, I like."
Lawmakers in both parties had pressed for the opposite course. In a letter on Thursday, 22 House members led by Rep. Jim Costa, a California Democrat, and including Republicans Michael McCaul of Texas, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Don Bacon of Nebraska, Joe Wilson of South Carolina and Dan Newhouse of Washington urged the administration to carry out the law fully, revoke the diesel license and keep any waivers "narrow, time-limited, and tied to measurable reductions in support for Russia's war." "Putin has repeatedly shown that he responds to pressure, not goodwill," they wrote. Republican senators including Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski and Thom Tillis have criticized the diesel deal, and Tillis said on NBC's "Meet the Press" that there was a "legitimate case" that Trump was "not following the law." Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said lawmakers who argue that either an older ban or the Graham law prohibits the arrangement are wrong. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday that the diesel agreement would put more money "straight into Putin's pocket to fund this war."
Sen. Darline Graham, the late senator's sister, who was appointed to his seat and is running for it with Trump's endorsement, said during a debate in Columbia on Sunday that the decision rested with the president. "It gives the president tools that he can use if he so chooses, to end the war through economic sanctions," she said. "So that's up to him as to whether or not he wants to use it, or whether he wants to use something else."