Signed, Then Waived: A Russia Sanctions Law Lasted 28 Days

Opinion. Every figure below is sourced in the box at the end; the conclusions are the author's.

In the United States, a sanctions law passed by Congress and signed on September 18, 2026 was switched off on October 16. Twenty eight days. The executive order that implements the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act waives every duty in sections 112 and 113 of the law, plus most of its sanctions on foreign persons. Same document, same signature.

The funniest part is in section 2(b). It sets a 100 percent duty on the five largest importers of Russian crude oil and natural gas if they make new purchases on or after October 18, 2026. Two sections later, section 4(a) waives that duty. The order creates the deadline and kills it on the same page.

What the order actually says

Section 2(a) raises the duty on goods from Russia by 500 percent. Section 2(c) adds 100 percent on the top five facilitators of Russian oil sanctions evasion. Then section 4 waives the duties in sections 112 and 113, the restrictions in section 102(d), and the sanctions in sections 102(a), 102(e), 103 through 111 and 117. The waivers stay in force "until such time as the President or the Secretary of State" decides further action is appropriate. No end date.

Two things the viral posts get wrong. First, India is not named anywhere. "No tariffs on India" is a consequence of a waiver that covers every country, not a special favor. Second, "Trump lifted Russia sanctions" is false as written. Section 4(b) says nothing in the order affects sanctions under the executive orders tied to the Russia national emergency, including everyone already sanctioned under them.

It is legal. That is the problem

Section 115 of the Graham Act lets the President waive any duty or sanction if he certifies to Congress that the waiver is in the national interest and sends a report explaining why. The order says that certification was sent. Nobody broke a rule. Congress wrote the off switch into its own law, then acted surprised when someone flipped it.

The context is diesel. On October 9, the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control issued General License 135, which authorizes the sale, delivery and importation of Russian diesel, including into the United States, through 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time on April 7, 2027. The only carve out: no debits to accounts of Russia's central bank, its National Wealth Fund or its finance ministry.

The number behind the decision

The Bureau of Labor Statistics says producer prices for final demand rose 1.3 percent in September, the largest monthly jump since March 2022. Inside processed goods for intermediate demand, diesel fuel jumped 21.0 percent in one month. On the consumer side, the CPI for September shows fuel oil up 74.2 percent over 12 months and gasoline up 34.2 percent. Headline consumer inflation sits at 3.7 percent, producer final demand at 6.3 percent. Truckers are paying a bill that has not fully reached the shelf yet.

That is the real trade the White House made: cheaper fuel before the November 3 midterms against a sanctions law it signed four weeks earlier. On October 16, Representative Gregory Meeks introduced a bill to nullify the OFAC licenses. It has 17 cosponsors, and one is a Republican, Don Bacon of Nebraska. Volodymyr Zelensky said the same day: "We can't accept diesel deals, because gas deals will come next."

Verdict

I am French. I know what it looks like when a parliament votes and the executive decides anyway. In Paris we call it 49.3. Washington just showed it has its own version, and Congress handed it over voluntarily. If sanctions matter, write them without an escape hatch. If cheap diesel matters more, say so out loud and own it at the ballot box. What nobody should accept is a law with a 28 day shelf life and a deadline that dies two sections after it is born. The real question for October 18 is simple: who governs trade policy in America, the people who vote the laws or the people who sign the waivers?