WASHINGTON, October 17 (ANI) — Several U.S. lawmakers and Democrats have strongly criticized President Donald Trump’s decision to waive sanctions related to Russian fuel sales that were set to take effect under the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act, a month after he signed the bill.
The law, whose implementation has now been paused, would have imposed tariffs of up to 100% on goods imported into the United States from the five largest importers of Russian crude oil or natural gas, including India and China.
The move comes amid a diesel supply deal with Russia and soaring diesel prices in the United States ahead of the November midterm elections.
Several U.S. lawmakers accused Trump of siding with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office accused Trump of receiving payments from Putin. “OK. Someone has to be getting paid by Putin. Who? And how much?” the office said in a post on X.
Rep. Don Beyer described the move as a surrender to Putin and a betrayal of Ukraine amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.
Beyer wrote on X, “Trump just waived all of the sanctions on Russia provided for in the Lindsey Graham Sanctioning Russia Act, just as I and others warned he would. Trump’s latest surrender to Putin again betrays our Ukrainian partners and defies clear congressional intent of legislation designed to punish Russia for its illegal war of aggression.”
The Democrat also accused Trump of distorting the law and abusing his authority, calling on Congress to amend it.
“Trump has proven he will twist this law and abuse the powers it conferred on him, and while he has let the tariff powers lie for the moment, the law as written also empowers Trump to weaponize new trade authorities against our allies and trading partners. Congress must fix this flawed law to stop Trump from capitulating to Putin and ensure that it truly supports Ukraine,” Beyer wrote.
Rep. Don Bacon said, “The President is prolonging the war, not ending it.”
Former world chess champion Garry Kasparov, a vocal critic of Putin, also criticized Trump, saying, “Of course he did. What will it do to the balance in the Senate when Trump gives Alaska back to Russia?”
“Anything to relieve pressure on Russia or to give money to Russia kills more innocent Ukrainians and prolongs the war. That’s bad for global security and the economy, including America’s. The US needs nothing from Russia, but Trump clearly does,” Kasparov added.
Trump invoked Section 115 of the Graham Act, which authorizes the president to waive the application of any sanctions provision concerning a foreign person, any restriction concerning a person, and any duty imposed under the law.
“I have submitted to the Congress a certification that the issuance of such a waiver is in the national interests of the United States and a report explaining the basis for the certification, consistent with section 115(b) of the Graham Act,” Trump said in the order.
He waived the application of duties provided for under Sections 112 and 113 of the act. These provisions allowed Trump to increase duties on all goods imported into the United States from Russia to as much as 500% ad valorem, or based on the value of the goods. They also permitted duties of up to 100% ad valorem on goods from the five largest importers of Russian-origin crude oil or natural gas.
The decision follows Trump’s announcement of a diesel supply deal with Russia. Under the arrangement, he said Russia would immediately supply more than 300,000 metric tons of diesel fuel, followed by another 500,000 metric tons in November and 1 million metric tons immediately afterward.
India had expressed concerns to Washington over the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 amid the threat of tariffs.
On Wednesday, India’s Ministry of External Affairs said the country had directly conveyed its objections to U.S. legal measures targeting trade ties with Russia, specifically the Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act (SRIA).
“We have already conveyed to the US side our concerns regarding the SRIA legislation,” Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said. (ANI)
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