Congress passed legislation on September 16 authorizing new sanctions on Russia and directing President Trump to impose up to 100% tariffs on all goods imported into the United States from countries that meet specified statutory criteria related to Russian oil and natural gas purchases within 30 days of enactment.

The new tariff authority is conditional rather than blanket: it reaches only countries that satisfy the required criteria, and does not give the President general tariff authority beyond them.

Top U.S. trading partners, such as China, India, Japan, Korea, and certain European countries, could be among those subject to the new tariffs, unless they meet the natural gas exception or are granted a “national interest” waiver by the President. These exceptions are further explained below.

The Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 (H.R. 5334) is widely seen as a tribute to the late Senator Graham, who championed Russia sanctions legislation for years before his sudden death in July. 

The House passed the bill 262 -159 this evening, sending it to the President’s desk to be signed into law following an attempt the day prior led by House Democrats to strip the tariff provision from the bill. Senate Democrats pursued a similar futile effort before the bill passed that chamber on August 7 by 86-11.

The White House is presumed to have signaled a strong desire for the bill to be passed this week to give the President additional leverage heading into a much-anticipated meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping scheduled for next week on Thursday, September 24.

The Administration first attempted to tariff countries over Russian oil purchases in August 2025, when it invoked the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (“IEEPA”) in Executive Order 14329 to impose a secondary tariff on India, framing it as an extension of the national emergency. That authority was undercut when the Supreme Court ruled in February 2026 that IEEPA does not authorize tariffs at all. This bill closes that gap, giving the President explicit statutory tariff authority he previously lacked — but on materially narrower terms than the open-ended emergency authority the Administration had claimed under IEEPA. Here, Congress defined the covered countries by statute rather than leaving the scope to executive determination.

While the President is known to act on stretched legal interpretations, Congressional intent of the new tariff authority is seemingly limited to wanting to deter countries from future purchases of Russian energy exports. Additional details are below:

Scope of Tariff Authority – Criteria & Exceptions

The bill directs the President to impose duties of up to 100% not later than 30 days after enactment on all U.S. imports from countries meeting the following three criteria; only countries meeting such criteria will be affected. In other words, the President ONLY has the legal authority to impose new tariffs on countries if the first criterion is met, AND the second OR third criterion is met:

1. Knowingly made new purchases of crude oil or natural gas that originated in the Russian Federation on a date that is on or after 30 days after the date of enactment of this Act; AND,
2. Was among the 5 largest importers, by total volume, of crude oil or natural gas that originated in the Russian Federation during the most recent 12-month period preceding the date of the enactment of this Act; OR,
3. Was among the top 5 countries facilitating Russian oil sanctions evasion during the most recent 12-month period preceding the date of the enactment of this Act.

*There is one exception applying to natural gas purchases.

Tariffs will NOT be imposed if:

• A country’s total imports of Russian natural gas during the 12-month period were less than 15 percent of the total annual exports of natural gas from Russia during that period; AND,
• That country has taken significant steps to reduce its Russian gas imports.

Mandatory, Not Discretionary

The bill uses mandatory language; the President “shall” increase the rate of duty once a country qualifies under the specified criteria. The only discretion in the statute other than the rate of the tariff is a separate waiver provision allowing the President to waive any duty imposed under the bill, but only after certifying to Congress in writing that doing so is in the national interest and why.

Who Determines the Covered Countries

The U.S. Trade Representative (“USTR”), in consultation with the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Energy, will identify the covered countries. To extend the tariffs, USTR must redetermine the list, and reimpose duties accordingly, not later than 180 days after the initial imposition, and every 180 days thereafter.

Tariff Stacking

Tariffs imposed under this authority will stack on top of the normal MFN duty rates, plus all other trade remedy tariffs such as Section 301 or 232 tariffs.

Foreign Trade Zones & Drawback

The legislation does not address how the tariffs will apply to products admitted into U.S. FTZs, nor state whether drawback will be allowed on the new tariffs. 

For questions or feedback, please reach out to anyone at the SSA team.