The US Has Waived the Graham Act Duties on Russian-Oil Buyers. What That Means for Indian Cloth

What the order does

On 16 October 2026 the President signed an executive order titled Implementing the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026. We have read the order itself on the White House site rather than the coverage of it. It uses the waiver power in section 115 of the Act, which lets the President switch off any duty or sanction in the Act once he certifies to Congress that doing so is in the national interest. The order says that certification and the supporting report have been sent.

Section 4(a) of the order waives the application of any duties provided for in sections 112 and 113 of the Act or in the order itself. Section 113 is the one that mattered for us: it directed a duty of up to 100 percent on all goods from the largest buyers of Russian crude and gas, and India was among the countries that test was written around. Section 112 is the separate duty on goods from Russia itself. Both are now waived.

The order still writes the duties down. Section 2 sets out a 500 percent increase on Russian goods and a 100 percent increase on goods from the five largest importers of Russian crude and gas that make new purchases on or after 18 October 2026, but each line is stated as subject to the waivers in section 4. So the rate exists on paper and is switched off in the same document.

Where that leaves a buyer of Indian fabric

No Graham Act duty applies to Indian goods. The duty position for Indian cloth entering the United States is what it was before the Act was signed: the 10 percent Section 301 line explained in our post on the US forced-labour tariff on India, plus the normal tariff rate for your HTS line. Nothing in this order adds to that or takes anything away.

The 30-day clock in the Act, which put any first duty around 18 October 2026, has now run out with the duty waived. So for an order placed today there is no Graham Act duty to hold the order for or to build into a landed-cost estimate.

Why the risk is parked, not gone

The waiver has no end date. Section 4(d) says it stays in effect until the President or the Secretary of State, consulting the Treasury and the Trade Representative, decides further action is appropriate. Section 3 tells the Trade Representative to keep monitoring who buys Russian crude and gas and to tell the President promptly of anything that might call for further action, including on the waivers.

In plain terms, the law is still on the books and the switch can be flipped back without going to Congress again. Our earlier post on the Act sets out how the duty would work if that happened: it would sit on top of the existing 10 percent rather than replace it. For a buyer, the sensible step is to keep a short quote validity window and agree in advance who carries a new import duty if one arrives mid-order. On most Incoterms that is the importer at the US border.

What we are not saying

• We are not saying the Act has been repealed. It has not. Its duties are waived by executive order, which can be reversed by the same route.
• We are not predicting when or whether the waiver will be lifted. The order sets no date and names no trigger beyond a decision that further action is appropriate.
• We are not saying anything about India's oil purchases. That is a matter for the two governments, and we found no Indian government statement on the order when this was written.
• We are not a customs adviser. Your tariff lines and entry dates decide your position, and your broker is the person to check them with.