Trump Pauses Russia Sanctions for 60 Days, Eases India Tariffs — SkimNews
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- Donald Trump signed an executive order on October 16, 2026 waiving key provisions of the Graham Act (Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act) that authorized punitive tariffs on countries purchasing Russian oil, granting immediate relief to India.
- Marco Rubio said Trump wants a 60-day period to study what imposing both sanctions and tariffs would mean for the global and U.S. economies, speaking before departing for a week-long tour of Uzbekistan and India.
- Rubio justified the original Graham Act waivers as built-in study periods designed to weigh pressure on global energy supplies from the Iran war, Houthi attacks in Saudi Arabia, and the Ukraine-Russia conflict.
- India remains reliant on Russian energy despite diversifying its portfolio because "it's hard to pivot from one day to the next," Rubio said, calling it an important U.S. ally scheduled for his visit Monday.
- Rubio separately said the U.S. is "very disturbed" by Israeli settler violence in the West Bank and has asked Israel to "crack down," after Washington Post photojournalist Heidi Levine was attacked on Friday.
- Israeli settlers have been involved in at least 170 attacks on Palestinians since September 27, 2026, around the start of the annual olive harvest, per monitoring group Yesh Din.
Why it matters: By waiving Graham Act provisions, Trump gave India immediate tariff relief on Russian oil purchases while Rubio said the president needs 60 days to study economic fallout. The original sanctions law targeted countries still buying Russian energy — a category India openly falls into despite diversification — exposing tension between Trump's bilateral engagement and Congress's sanctions-first approach.
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