Article · Geopolitics · Energy · Money and markets
Two days before the deadline, Trump switched off the Russia sanctions he had signed himself. Hungary and Slovakia were in line for US tariffs of up to 100 percent
On 16 October 2026 Donald Trump signed an executive order waiving most of the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026, which he had signed on 18 September. The law required the president, by 18 October, to raise duties on Russian goods by up to 500 percent and to impose tariffs of up to 100 percent on the largest buyers of Russian oil and gas. The order says the waiver is "in the national interests of the United States" and sets no end date. Earlier US sanctions and all EU sanctions stay in place. In September Russia earned about 625 million euros a day from fossil fuel exports, and the EU itself was its third-largest customer.
In September the US Congress gave the president a tool to hit the biggest buyers of Russian crude with tariffs of up to 100 percent on everything they sell to America, and Senate negotiators expected two EU members, Hungary and Slovakia, to be on that list. On 16 October Trump switched the tool off with his own signature and no end date, while Russia was still earning about 625 million euros a day from fossil fuel exports.
What changed since our pieces of 10 and 11 October: we wrote then about the US licence for Russian diesel and noted that the Graham Act deadline fell on 18 October. We now know the president waived most of the law before that deadline.