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President Donald Trump signed a sweeping Russia sanctions bill into law on Friday, September 18, granting the White House broad new authority to punish the countries that keep buying Russian energy. The legislation — the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 (H.R. 5334) — was championed by the late Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham and passed both chambers of Congress with wide bipartisan margins.
What the act does
The law has two cutting edges. The first is aimed directly at Russia: it sanctions President Vladimir Putin, Russian government officials, oligarchs, banks and other financial institutions, and targets the "shadow fleet" of tankers Moscow uses to keep its energy exports moving despite Western restrictions. It also tightens export controls on goods Russia could use for weapons production, restricts new U.S. investment in Russia and transactions involving Russian sovereign debt, and expands restrictions on Russia's military leadership and its financial and energy sectors, according to CBS News and Ukrainian media outlet h.ua.
The second edge is aimed at Russia's customers. The law authorizes the president to impose tariffs of up to 100 percent on imports from the five largest buyers of Russian crude oil and natural gas — and on any country found helping Moscow evade existing sanctions. It also allows tariffs of up to 500 percent on goods imported directly from Russia. Within 30 days of entry into force, the U.S. must impose additional tariffs on top-five buyers that continue making new purchases, as well as on the countries most facilitating sanctions evasion, h.ua reported. The legislation also extends existing U.S. sanctions on Iran for five years, covering Iran's energy and weapons industries.
Crucially, the tariffs are discretionary, not automatic. The president may decline to apply tariffs subject to congressional approval and may grant exemptions on national security grounds, including a narrow exception for nations that import less than 15 percent of Russia's natural gas exports and have taken significant steps to cut those purchases, according to reports citing the AP. The bill also provides waiver authority under specified conditions, including certification to Congress that a waiver is in the national interest.
Why it matters
The margins tell the story of a rare bipartisan rebuke of Moscow more than four years into Russia's war against Ukraine: the Senate approved the measure 86–11 on August 7, 2026, and the House cleared it 262–159 on September 16. Reuters reported that the legislation represents the first time in nearly 40 years that Congress has granted the executive branch new tariff authority.
The bill is named for Graham, who had championed Ukraine's cause and co-drafted the legislation with Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal after introducing an original version in April 2025 that proposed automatic 500 percent tariffs. Graham died suddenly in July at 71 from a torn aorta, shortly after returning from a trip to Ukraine; Trump delivered the eulogy at his funeral, and Graham's sister, Sen. Darline Graham, was with Trump in the Oval Office for Friday's signing, CBS News reported.
The signing ends months of delay. According to reporting by the American Tribune, Trump had stalled the legislation, arguing he wanted more flexibility to negotiate directly with Putin — and an Iran sanctions provision helped secure his support.
Who gets hit — and who wins and loses
China and India are expected to face the greatest impact among foreign countries because they are the largest purchasers of Russian crude oil, CBS News reported. Turkey has also been named among the major buyers in Ukrainian coverage. The timing adds diplomatic weight: Trump is scheduled to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping at the White House on September 24, giving the new tariff authority immediate relevance as a bargaining chip.
For Ukraine, the law is a potential lifeline aimed at the Kremlin's war economy — Russian oil and gas revenue has funded Moscow's military through more than four years of war. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked Trump and members of Congress; Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha called the signing "a truly historic day," while sanctions official Vladyslav Vlasyuk said the key question now is practical implementation.
For the buyers, the stakes are energy security and trade access. India has conveyed concerns to Washington about the impact on its energy security, according to the Daily Jagran. Any tariffs on Chinese goods would land in the middle of an already tense U.S.–China trade relationship — and could push Beijing and New Delhi deeper into energy partnerships outside the Western system, analysts of sanctions regimes have long warned.
Market and energy implications
The law arrives as global energy markets are already strained — diesel prices have hit record levels in the U.S. ahead of November's midterms, and experts attribute shortages to both the Ukraine war and the U.S.–Israeli war against Iran. Squeezing Moscow's biggest customers could cut its export revenues, but it could also tighten global supply further if China and India reduce Russian purchases without easy substitutes. The waiver and exemption provisions give the White House a pressure valve — and a negotiating tool — that markets will be watching closely.
What happens next
Three things will decide whether the act bites or bluffs. First, implementation: the 30-day clock for tariffs on continuing top buyers is the first real test, and Ukraine's sanctions officials have publicly flagged that enforcement is the key unknown. Second, waivers: the president's exemption powers mean the threat can be wielded in negotiations — including with Xi on September 24 — without ever being fired. Third, retaliation: targeted countries could answer with their own trade measures, raising the risk that the sanctions war widens into a broader trade war.
Trump has not yet said whether — or against whom — he will use the tariff powers. But four days after signing the act, he was pressing Zelenskyy at the U.N. to halt strikes on Russian refineries over the very fuel prices the law is meant to influence — a sign that the White House is trying to squeeze Moscow economically and restrain Kyiv simultaneously.
Sources and reporting notes
- CBS News (via internewscast.com), Sept 19 2026: Friday signing, 100% tariff authority over the five largest buyers, sanctions on Putin/officials/oligarchs/banks, China and India as largest purchasers, Trump–Xi meeting Sept 24, Graham's death and eulogy.
- h.ua, Sept 18 2026: full act title, signing timing (Sept 18 U.S. / Sept 19 Kyiv time), 100% and 500% tariff tiers, 30-day implementation trigger, shadow fleet and export-control provisions, waiver/approval rules, Senate 86–11 and House 262–159 votes, Zelenskyy/Sybiha/Vlasyuk reactions.
- Heritage Review, Sept 19 2026 (citing AP): five-year Iran sanctions extension and the narrow gas-import exemption.
Reporting cutoff: September 22, 2026. The act's tariff powers are discretionary; no tariffs on specific countries had been announced as of publication. India's concerns about energy security are per the Daily Jagran; Russian government reactions to the law were not covered in the verified sources and are not stated here.