The 500% Russia Duty Order Carries Presidential Waivers as Europe Keeps Sanctions

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on 16 October 2026 implementing the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026, according to the White House website. The order raises duties on Russian goods and sets out waiver provisions that let the President suspend sanctions and duties under the law. It came a week after the U.S. Treasury eased restrictions on Russian-origin diesel, and European governments pledged to maintain their sanctions, according to Kyiv Post.

The two U.S. actions differ in scope. The Treasury license covers one product, while the order covers duties on goods from Russia and on buyers and facilitators of Russian oil and gas.

What the Order Changes on Duties and Waivers

Section 2 of the order raises duties on goods from Russia by 500% ad valorem, subject to exceptions and the waivers in Section 4. Duties on goods from the five largest importers of Russian crude oil and natural gas rise by 100% if those countries knowingly make new purchases of Russian-origin oil or gas on or after that date. A separate 100% increase applies to the five largest facilitators of Russian oil sanctions evasion.

Section 4 waives certain duties and sanctions under the Act and this order, subject to a national-interest certification to Congress. The order states that the President has submitted that certification. The waivers remain in effect until the President, or the Secretary of State with Treasury and the U.S. Trade Representative, decides further action is appropriate. Congress passed the Act, which the President signed on 18 September 2026.

Diesel License Terms
OFAC issued General License 135 on 9 October 2026, authorizing transactions in Russian-origin diesel. Clyde & Co reads its expiry as 7 April 2027, a date OFAC’s notice does not list.

The Diesel License Issued Earlier in October

On 9 October 2026, the Office of Foreign Assets Control issued General License 135. The license authorizes transactions involving the sale, delivery, offloading and importation of Russian-origin diesel. OFAC’s notice does not list an expiry date. The law firm Clyde & Co reads the license as running to 7 April 2027.

Clyde & Co also reports that the license excludes debits from U.S. accounts held by Russia’s central bank, its National Wealth Fund and its Ministry of Finance. Trump announced the arrangement with Vladimir Putin and presented it as a way to ease fuel prices, according to Kyiv Post.

The same law firm reports that UK and EU restrictions are unaffected. The UK ban on shipping Russian diesel and the EU ban on trading, brokering and transporting it remain in force, as do EU and UK designations of many Russian producers.

How Berlin, Brussels, London and Kyiv Responded

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on 12 October that Germany would keep its sanctions. Kyiv Post reports that he said such a decision was “out of the question” and argued that Russia’s attacks justified tougher restrictions. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas also said a truce on energy infrastructure would only work if both sides honored it. She warned that a refinery-only arrangement would disproportionately benefit Russia, whose refining network is much larger than Ukraine’s.

The European Council also adopted sanctions on 12 October against 1,569 individuals and entities, including 826 companies and 743 executives, targeting Russia’s military-industrial complex, according to Kyiv Post. That report says the listings were not presented as a response to Trump’s announcement. Sweden’s Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard said she regretted the deal and hoped it would not take effect. Lithuania’s Kęstutis Budrys said it would help neither fuel prices nor transatlantic unity.

In Kyiv, Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukraine was still awaiting details from Washington. He said Ukraine had temporarily held off strikes on Russian energy facilities, but that Russia kept attacking Ukraine’s power grid after the announcement. Trump, on 12 October, accused the EU of buying $250 billion in Russian energy. The period and source of that figure were not identified.

The order states that the President has submitted that certification.

Deadlines and Open Questions

The next date is 18 October. Kyiv Post reports that it is the deadline for many initial measures under the Act, and the order sets the same date for the 100% increases tied to new purchases of Russian oil and gas.

Under Section 4(d), the waivers stay in effect until changed by the President or the Secretary of State. Kyiv Post describes the 12 October listing of 1,569 individuals and entities as the EU’s largest single expansion of sanctions listings against Russia’s military-industrial complex.

Photo: Duesseljan · CC0 · via Wikimedia Commons