Trump Waives Russia Oil Sanctions Under Graham Act — SkimNews
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- Trump issued an executive order on October 16, 2026 waiving the sanctions, restrictions and duties provided for in the Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act, the measure popularly known as the Graham Act.
- Trump submitted a certification to Congress stating that issuing the waiver at this time is in the national interest of the United States, the procedural hook the Act requires for any such carve-out.
- The Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act empowered Trump to impose sweeping sanctions on Moscow and slap steep tariffs against the world's largest purchasers of Russian oil and gas — powers the executive order now sets aside.
- China and India, named in the source as the world's largest Russian oil and gas purchasers, were the principal targets of the tariff provisions Trump has chosen not to activate.
- The source frames the waiver as a unilateral executive move, with Trump stating he was "hereby waiving" the statute's penalties rather than amending or repealing the underlying law.
Why it matters: The Graham Act armed Trump with sweeping authority to sanction Moscow and tariff its biggest oil customers. By invoking the national-interest waiver instead of using those powers, Trump is keeping Russian energy flowing to China and India while avoiding a tariff fight with two of the world's largest energy buyers — a procedural carve-out that effectively neutralizes the statute he once championed.
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