President Donald Trump waived massive tariffs linked to Russian energy exports mandated in a law that he signed last month, as the measures complicated his push to lower diesel prices ahead of the US midterm elections.
Trump invoked a waiver clause under the law, which was championed by the late Senator Lindsey Graham as a way to punish Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. The law also codified and expanded sanctions targeting Moscow.
“I am hereby waiving the application of such sanctions, restrictions, and duties provided for in the Graham Act. I have submitted to the Congress a certification that the issuance of such a waiver at this time is in the national interests of the United States,” Trump said in an executive order released late Friday.
The directive does formally impose the tariffs, while suspending their implementation, meaning that Trump could apply them at another time if he chooses.
The measure gave Trump 30 days to impose 100% tariffs on all goods from the top five buyers of Russian crude. It would also slap sanctions on numerous Russian entities and impose 500% tariffs on all US imports of Russian energy products. That one month deadline was set to expire on Oct. 18.
Those provisions conflict with his plan — announced last week — to work with Russian President Vladimir Putin to release the country’s diesel supplies into global markets. Trump is seeking to lower US diesel prices that are hovering at record highs weeks before the Nov. 3 elections.
Waiving the tariffs risks fresh pushback from members of Congress, including many Republicans who were outraged by his decision on Russian diesel. A bipartisan group of senators signed a letter this week demanding that Trump rescind the deal with Putin and enforce the provisions of the Graham law.
Waiving the law also avoids a potential clash with the top purchasers of Russian energy products, China, India and Turkey.
Graham, a South Carolina Republican and longtime champion of Ukraine, wrote the bill before he died in July and its passage was seen as a way of honoring him. Graham had repeatedly called such sanctions the key to bringing Putin to the negotiating table to end his full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which is in its fifth year.
Posted by John3262005
6 Comments
Wonder if Graham was here, would he be happy with the results?
Got the law in his namesake but then this happens and everything else since then
Just another day in the “relationship” between the US and Ukraine
Desperate to lower energy prices to stop his polls from dropping even further.
At the cost of Ukranian and Russian lives. And further tyranny in Russia.
Maybe Lindsey should have thought of that and not died
I expected him to use this to do arbitrary tariffs not within the letter of the law.
Turns out he did something equally as fucking stupid, by undoing the tariffs which were the whole point.
Also doesn’t this mean he’s admitting tariffs are an inflationary tool, completely contradicting his own words? Not that he’d ever be inconsistent that would be so out of character for such a stable operator as him.
This will have zero effect on gas prices leading up to the midterms. This is just more lazy, short minded policy from this administration. He truly does not understand how other countries’ foreign policy is driven by national interests and not by doing personal favors to the person or people in charge.
Every dem that goes on the Sunday talk shows this week should straight up say “President Trump is telling the American people that US energy security is now dependent on Putin and Russia”. Don’t know how we haven’t heard this yet