Executive order of 16 October 2026 on Graham Act tariffs
Trump's 16 October 2026 order setting the Graham Act's Russia duties, then waiving them.
Washington has collected none of this order's 500% duty on Russian goods: section 4 waived it, together with the levy on Russia's biggest oil buyers, two days before the Graham Act's 18 October 2026 trigger date.
Last refreshed: 18 October 2026
Why did Trump impose Russia tariffs and waive them in one order?
Timeline for Executive order of 16 October 2026 on Graham Act tariffs
Trump waives Graham Act's Russia tariffs
Russia-Ukraine War 2026Background
Titled Implementing the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026, the order was signed by Donald Trump on 16 October 2026. Section 2 sets a 500% duty increase on Russian goods.
The same section adds a duty equal to the full value of the goods on imports from the five largest buyers of Russian crude and gas that make new purchases from 18 October, and from the five largest facilitators of Russian oil sanctions evasion. Section 4 waives those duties and most of the Act's sanctions under section 115(a), the Graham Act national-interest waiver, with a certification and report to Congress under section 115(b). The text names no Ceasefire, talks or other Russian condition.
Under section 4(d), the waiver ends only when the President or the Secretary of State says so. Any of the duties can therefore be imposed later by the executive, with no vote in Congress.
The order joins a run of easing
Seven days before Trump signed, General License 135 had cleared Russian diesel for trade, imports into the United States included. On 13 October a cargo of about 40,000 tonnes of diesel loaded at Primorsk for Morocco, and the Kremlin's readout of Putin's call with the UAE president called such supplies "the agreements reached" with Trump.
Read alongside those moves, the 16 October order is one more step that eased pressure on Russian energy with no Russian concession attached. It leaves alone the Russia sanctions that rest on the separate national emergency order, so it relaxes one instrument rather than the whole regime.
What does Trump's 16 October 2026 Graham Act order do?
Under what power did Trump waive the Graham Act's tariffs?
Does Trump's Graham Act waiver lift existing Russia sanctions?
Written with AI from Lowdown's published reporting. Not individually reviewed by an editor. Updated 18 October 2026. Editorial standards.