Trump granted exemptions from the tariffs on Russian energy exports that he had put into law the previous month, a step taken partly because those levies were placing upward pressure on diesel costs ahead of the midterm elections.

A waiver provision embedded in the legislation — a measure Senator Lindsey Graham had backed as a tool for holding Russia accountable over its military actions in Ukraine — was activated by Trump. The legislation both formalised and broadened measures directed at Russia, while an official's statement declared that the penalties, restrictions, and obligations set out under the Graham Act would not be applied.

An executive order made public late Friday contained Trump's statement that a congressional notification had been filed confirming the waiver's issuance served the country's national interests. The order formally establishes the tariffs yet holds off on putting them into effect, leaving open the possibility that they could be activated at a later date.

Under the legislation, a 30-day window opened for Trump to place 100 per cent tariffs on all products arriving from the five nations purchasing the largest volumes of Russian crude oil. Under the same legislation, penalties would fall on a range of Russian entities while duties on American purchases of Russian energy goods would be set at five times their current rate. The 30-day window was scheduled to close on Oct. 18.

A plan built around working with Putin to route the nation's diesel supplies into global markets sits in direct conflict with those rules. With an election weeks away, the administration moved to address diesel fuel costs that had climbed to their highest recorded levels across the country.

Pushback from Capitol Hill poses a tangible obstacle to eliminating those tariffs, with opposition already registered by multiple legislators — including members of the Republican caucus — over the administration's earlier decision to ease restrictions on Russian diesel imports. A bipartisan group of senators added their signatures to a letter this week urging that the arrangement with Putin be reversed and that the obligations outlined in the Graham law be honoured.

Avoiding that legal obligation also reduces the prospect of friction with the three nations that collectively stand among the largest purchasers of Russian energy — China, India, and Turkey.

Graham, a South Carolina Republican who had championed Ukraine's cause over many years, put the bill together before he died in July, and the vote to pass it was widely seen as an acknowledgment of the work he had put into it. Over the course of the now five-year conflict in Ukraine, Graham had argued on multiple occasions that such measures represented the most effective lever for drawing Putin toward peace negotiations.