By an order of 16 October 2026, the US president waived the tariffs and the sanctions provisions of the Lindsey Graham law listed in it, two days before the tariffs were due to begin. We explain what exactly has been waived, what remains and what the document does not say.
Late on Friday, 16 October, the White House published an order under which part of the law on sanctions against Russia ceases to apply. It was signed by the same president who four weeks earlier, on 18 September, had signed the law itself [1][4]. Donald Trump waived the tariffs and the sanctions provisions of the Lindsey Graham law listed in the order, two days before the tariffs on new purchases of Russian oil and gas would have taken effect on Sunday, 18 October [1][4]. The order does not touch the earlier sanctions [1].
A law with an emergency exit
The Graham law works like this: it requires raising tariffs on Russian goods and imposing sanctions, while one of its articles, section 115, leaves the president the right to waive any of these measures [1]. The condition is simple: give Congress a written assurance that the waiver is in the national interest of the United States and attach a report with the justification [1]. This is the right Trump used [1][4].
The order itself is built unusually. First it writes down the rates the law demands: an additional 500% ad valorem on tariffs on goods from Russia; an additional 100% for goods from the five largest buyers of Russian oil and gas if they make new purchases from 18 October; and the same addition for the five countries that do most to help circumvent oil sanctions [1]. And right there, in the same document, the president waives all these tariffs [1].
A few words need explaining. Russian-language reports, for example RIA Novosti, call the decision a "suspension" of the law [11]; the order says otherwise, that the president is waiving the application of some provisions [1], and the difference is significant: the law remains in force and the earlier sanctions have not been lifted. In English such a waiver is called a waiver, from the verb to waive, which goes back to an Old French word meaning "to leave, to give up": the provision stays in the law, but the executive may decline to apply it if the law itself left it that option. Ad valorem is Latin for "according to value": the tariff is calculated as a percentage of the price of the imported goods, not as a fixed sum per tonne or item, and rises with the price. The Russian word ukaz ("указ") comes from ukazat ("to point out"); it is customarily used to translate the American executive order, an act of the president for the agencies subordinate to him, which rests on the Constitution or, as here, on a provision of a law [1]. Congress does not vote on such an act.
Background: what is waived and what remains
- The tariffs under sections 112 and 113 of the law and the sanctions provisions of sections 102(a), 102(d), 102(e), 103–111 and 117 are not applied [1].
- Measures under earlier orders within the state of emergency extended on 24 March 2026, and sanctions against persons already on the lists, remain [1].
- No term for the waiver is given: it stays in effect until the president or the secretary of state decide that further action is needed [1].
- A written assurance to Congress, according to the order, has been sent; its text is not publicly available [1].
What is known about the mechanism, and what is not
The decision on the waiver does not rest with one person. The right to act under section 115 by order has been delegated to the secretary of state, and the trade representative has been instructed to monitor purchases of Russian oil and gas and circumvention of sanctions and to tell the president when, in his view, something needs to change [1]. Until the president or the secretary of state decide that further action is needed, the waiver stays in effect; it has no calendar end date [1].
But the order is silent on a great deal. It does not explain why the waiver is in the national interest [1]. It does not say how much time Congress has to review the waiver and how it can be challenged [1]. Neither the assurance nor the report mentioned in it has been published [1]. What the Graham law itself says on this we did not check: the full text of the law was not opened for this article.
Why now
The order gives no reasons [1]. The press places it in this context: the waiver came a week after the president eased restrictions on Russian diesel fuel, an aspect we do not examine here [4]. In addition, less than three weeks remained until the midterm congressional elections set for 3 November, and Republicans, as Reuters describes it, are fighting for a narrow majority in both chambers [3][7].
Version. Criticism in Congress, where senators of both parties have already asked the president to change course, and statements from Kyiv make the decision politically costly, but they do not affect its execution until Congress limits the president's powers [4][7][8]. It would be refuted by a limit adopted by Congress or by the administration itself cancelling the waiver. The second version concerns the design of the order: the rates are written down, monitoring is assigned, there is no end date, so the executive branch has kept the ability to bring the measures back without a new law [1]. It would be refuted by reports that no monitoring is taking place, or by legislation closing the waiver.
Who got what and who lost what
In Moscow the decision was welcomed by Kirill Dmitriev, the Russian president's special representative for investment and economic cooperation. In his Telegram channel he wrote that the suspension of the Graham law is "an important and truly historic moment" [11]. In his assessment, the law, which after the senator's death underwent radical negative changes, could in effect have halted economic interaction between Russia and the United States and damaged above all the American economy and world markets; instead of sanctions and confrontation, he believes, dialogue, mutually beneficial cooperation and shared responsibility for global stability are needed [11].
Volodymyr Zelensky saw in the decision a weakening of pressure and said it was taken at a time of a massive attack on Ukraine's energy sector, that the law could have helped a great deal, and that easing pressure on the aggressor only encourages new attacks [4].
In Congress criticism comes from both parties. Democrat Don Beyer of Virginia called the waiver a gift to Putin and said it runs against Congress's clear intent [3]. Earlier, on 11 October, Republicans Collins, Murkowski and Tillis, together with Democrats, urged the president to change course and recalled that the administration had not consulted Congress [7]. Two days later 12 senators, six of them Republicans, demanded that the deal with Moscow be rescinded [8]. Republican Fitzpatrick, according to Reuters, is preparing a bill that would limit the president's right to lift sanctions on Russian oil [9]. Democrat Meeks, as Anadolu reported on Telegram, has introduced a bill to halt the deal; we did not check the original [10].
For the largest buyers of Russian energy, the waiver means the formal threat of 100% tariffs has gone [1]. According to CBS, the law was aimed primarily at them, among them China, India and Turkey [4]. Beijing, according to Reuters, has stated that it consistently opposes the extraterritorial application of foreign law that has no basis in international law; Delhi warned Washington that new tariffs would affect relations between the two countries [3].
How the law got to this Friday
The law is named after Senator Lindsey Graham, who died before it was adopted [4]. Congress passed the law on 16 September and the president signed it on 18 September [5][6]. After that events followed one another: the order on 16 October, the deadline for tariffs on new purchases on 18 October, elections on 3 November [1][7].
To understand how unusual the story of the waiver is, it is useful to recall an earlier law, CAATSA of 2017. Its section 216, known as the Russia Sanctions Review Act, requires that before lifting sanctions or waiving them the president submit to Congress a report with the reasons [2]. For 30 calendar days he cannot act without a resolution of approval; if both chambers pass a resolution of disapproval, the president still may not act for another 12 days, and for another 10 days after his veto of it [2]. The criterion for comparison is simple: does Congress have a time limit and a procedure to stop a waiver before it takes effect. In the 2017 law they exist; in the order under the Graham law they are not mentioned [1][2]. The comparison, however, is incomplete: section 216 covers the sanctions of that law, the codified orders and two 2014 laws on Ukraine, and whether it applies to waivers under the Graham law is not stated in its text [2].
What happens next
The coming weeks will show whether the basis for the waiver becomes clear. Expectation: the president's report and assurance to Congress become known or committees request them before 3 November [1]. Expectation: before the elections the matter may reach hearings or a vote on the bills mentioned above [9][10]. A third marker is the trade representative's first report on purchases of Russian energy and circumvention of sanctions; the order names no deadline [1]. A signal of change would be a decision by the president or the secretary of state on further action [1].
List of sources used
- Implementing the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 (order of 16 October 2026), The White House — primary source, document; accessed 17 October 2026.
- 22 U.S.C. § 9511 (section 216 of CAATSA), uscode.house.gov — primary source, text of the law; accessed 17 October 2026.
- Trump Signs Order Exempting Russia From New Sanctions Legislation, Reuters, The Moscow Times — agency report, 17 October 2026; accessed 17 October 2026.
- Trump waives tariffs on largest buyers of Russian oil, CBS News — news outlet, 17 October 2026; accessed 17 October 2026.
- Trump springs surprise with Russia diesel deal, Outlook Business — secondary source; accessed 17 October 2026.
- Trump Russia diesel deal, AP, The Boston Globe — agency report, 9 October 2026; accessed 17 October 2026.
- Republicans, Democrats want Trump to reverse course on Russia, Honolulu Star-Advertiser — news outlet, 11 October 2026; accessed 17 October 2026.
- Senators urge Trump to rescind deal, Reuters, GV Wire — agency report, 13 October 2026; accessed 17 October 2026.
- Trump administration claims deal is legal, Reuters, Cyprus Mail — agency report, 11 October 2026; accessed 17 October 2026.
- Anadolu Agency, пост в Telegram о законопроекте Микса — signal, reliability C; 16 October 2026; accessed 17 October 2026.
- Дмитриев назвал приостановку закона о санкциях против РФ историческим моментом, РИА Новости — Russian agency, statement by an official citing his Telegram channel, 17 October 2026; accessed 17 October 2026.
