Roughly a month after signing the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act, Trump set aside a number of the law's provisions targeting Russian fuel sales, exempting them from enforcement. The law, which has since been paused, would have applied tariffs of up to 100 per cent on imports from whichever five countries bought the largest volumes of Russian oil and gas — a category that includes both India and China.
The timing aligns with a fuel-supply arrangement involving Russia, set against a backdrop of elevated diesel costs across the country as November's midterm elections draw near.
Citing Section 115 of the Graham Act — a provision that grants the president authority to lift sanctions obligations, personal restrictions, and statutory duties as they apply to foreign nationals — Trump issued the waiver order. The order also included a formal submission to Congress stating that the action served the national interest, along with an explanatory report prepared in line with subsection 115(b) of that statute.
Through a separate waiver, Trump set aside sections 112 and 113 of the Act, leaving dormant the power under those provisions to impose tariffs on goods entering the United States from Russia at rates reaching as high as 500 per cent ad valorem. Under those provisions, a tariff of as much as 100 per cent ad valorem could also be levied on crude oil or natural gas of Russian origin when shipped from any of the five leading importing nations.
The development followed an agreement between Trump and Russia on diesel supplies. The arrangement called for an initial delivery of more than 300,000 tonnes, a further 500,000 tonnes to be provided through November, and an additional one million tonnes to follow after that. Posting on Truth Social, Trump indicated that an additional three million tonnes could arrive within a relatively brief timeframe, contingent on the operational state of Russia's diesel refining infrastructure.
Trump characterised the arrangement with Russia as a notable one, expressing gratitude to Putin for an agreement under which the country would receive substantial diesel supplies.
New Delhi relayed its reservations about the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 to US officials, with the possibility of tariff measures adding pressure to those discussions. Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, addressing the topic on Wednesday, conveyed that the Ministry of External Affairs would not offer comment on the commercial arrangement reached between the two nations over diesel, adding that the ministry's longstanding position has been one of support for steady conditions across global energy markets.
India's position on the Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act had already been put to American counterparts directly, Jaiswal told reporters, adding that the legislation's potential impact on Russian trade ties formed the core of those exchanges.
