US President Donald Trump has waived the application of sanctions, restrictions and tariffs on the purchase of Russian oil and gas, handing a significant and timely relief to India just days before punitive duties under a tough new American law were due to take effect.
The move, announced in Washington on Friday night, removes the immediate threat of additional tariffs on India and China — among the world's largest buyers of Russian energy — under the newly enacted Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act.
In an executive order issued on Friday, Trump said he had submitted the required certification to Congress stating that the waiver was in the national interest of the United States. "I am hereby waiving the application of such sanctions, restrictions, and duties provided for in the Graham Act," the order said, invoking Section 115(a) of the legislation.
The Graham Act, named after South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, was passed by the US Congress with large bipartisan majorities and signed into law by Trump in September. It gave the American president sweeping powers to impose sanctions on Russia and to levy steep tariffs on countries that continue to purchase Russian energy or facilitate sanctions evasion.
Under the law, the US could have imposed tariffs of up to 100 per cent on goods imported from the five largest buyers of Russian crude oil or gas, along with duties of up to 500 per cent on Russian goods themselves. Section 113 of the Act specifically dealt with the imposition of tariffs of up to 100 per cent on countries that purchase Russian-origin crude oil or natural gas or facilitate sanctions evasion.
The waiver targets the duties provided for under Sections 112 and 113 of the Act, along with several sanctions and restrictions covering foreign persons and other categories. Crucially, however, the waiver does not wipe the slate clean: measures imposed under earlier executive orders remain unaffected, and the United States will continue to monitor Russian oil purchases. The administration retains the option of withdrawing the waiver and reimposing the punitive tariffs.
For India, the stakes could hardly have been higher. New Delhi had been under sustained pressure from Washington to reduce its purchases of Russian energy, and the Graham Act had posed a direct threat to Indian exports to the United States. India imports over 88 per cent of its crude oil requirements, and Russian oil accounted for about 45 per cent of total imports in August — roughly 2.08 million barrels per day.
Any additional tariff of up to 100 per cent on Indian goods entering the US would have been a severe blow to exporters and to the broader bilateral trade relationship.
The Ministry of External Affairs has consistently said that India's approach to securing its energy needs is guided by the availability of oil in the market and prevailing global circumstances. MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal reiterated that position on Friday during the ministry's weekly press briefing, underscoring that energy security remains a core national interest for New Delhi.
The timing of the waiver is significant on several counts. It comes just days after Trump announced an agreement with Russian President Vladimir Putin under which Russia would supply diesel to help bring down global energy prices. Trump said Russia would initially provide more than 300,000 tonnes of diesel, followed by further shipments in November and subsequent months — a deal that appears to have paved the way for the broader waiver.
The decision also lands days ahead of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio's visit to India, during which he is expected to visit Reliance Industries' Jamnagar refining complex. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar had raised India's concerns about the Graham Act directly with Rubio on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York last month, conveying the practical constraints Indian refineries face.
According to reports, Jaishankar told Rubio that Indian refineries are configured largely for handling medium sour crude, which is supplied by West Asia and Russia. He also pointed out that Venezuela supplies heavier-grade crude while the US produces light-grade crude, both of which would require blending before Indian refineries could use them — a technical reality that makes an abrupt switch away from Russian supplies extremely difficult.
The picture is further complicated by the ongoing conflict involving Iran, which has disrupted oil supplies from West Asia. With those supplies hit, India has had little choice but to lean on Russian crude to keep its economy running, officials and analysts have noted.
The Hindu BusinessLine, citing sources tracking the matter, reported that Indian officials had been in discussions with their US counterparts over the implications of the legislation and the possibility of a waiver, and that optimism had been building after Trump struck the diesel deal with Putin. The sources added that New Delhi's stance — that sourcing energy remains guided by national interest — is unchanged, and that interactions with Washington would continue.
Yet the relief comes with a caveat that trade experts are already flagging. Because the waiver can be withdrawn and the tariffs revived, Washington retains a powerful piece of leverage — potentially to be used in the ongoing negotiations for a bilateral trade agreement between India and the United States. The tariff threat has not disappeared; it has merely been paused.
Analysts say the waiver reflects a pragmatic calculation by the Trump administration. Crashing Russian energy revenues remains a stated goal of Washington's sanctions architecture, but slapping up to 100 per cent tariffs on the world's largest buyers of that energy — India and China — would have risked major disruptions in global trade and energy markets, and possibly retaliation.
The diesel deal with Putin, aimed at cooling global energy prices, suggests a shift towards managing the fallout rather than escalating it.
For India's refining giants and exporters, the immediate outcome is breathing room. The October 18 deadline for duties targeting countries that buy Russian energy was looming, and the waiver removes that cliff edge. But the structural question — how India balances its energy security with the demands of its most important strategic partner — remains very much alive.
What happens next will depend on several moving parts: whether the diesel shipments from Russia materialise as announced, how the Rubio visit to Jamnagar shapes the conversation, and whether the ongoing bilateral trade talks can produce a framework that accommodates India's energy compulsions. For now, though, New Delhi can consider this round a diplomatic win — one secured, officials believe, through sustained engagement rather than confrontation.
(Reporting based on The Hindu, The Indian Express, Tribune India and The Hindu BusinessLine.)