WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump announced on Friday that he is waiving numerous sanctions, restrictions, and duties days before they were set to take effect under a bill he signed into law last month.
The executive order comes as the president has warmed toward Russia while publicly criticizing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, including by suggesting that Ukraine needs a new leader.
The legislation, whose primary congressional backer was the late Senator Lindsey Graham, would have imposed tariffs of up to 100 percent within 30 days on all goods imported into the United States from the five largest importers of Russian crude oil or natural gas. It also applied to any country that knowingly bought Russian oil or gas 30 days after the law was enacted, or ranked among the top five countries helping Russia evade sanctions.
Trump signed the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 in mid-September.
“I have submitted to Congress a certification that the issuance of such a waiver at this time is in the national interests of the United States,” Trump said in the order released by the White House on Friday.
Countries such as India, among the biggest buyers of Russian oil, have raised concerns about the Russia sanctions bill.
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