Overview
- President Trump signed a decree that formally set the Graham law tariffs but suspended their application and sent written justification to Congress, a step reported Saturday that invokes the statute's presidential waiver.
- Bipartisan senators this week urged the president to rescind the diesel agreement with Vladimir Putin and to enforce the law's measures rather than delay them.
- Representative Gregory Meeks introduced the Prohibit Corrupt Russia Oil Deals Act to block the deal by banning DFC financing for Russian energy, invalidating OFAC general licenses, and requiring new sanctions on Russian energy.
- Key levers at stake are Office of Foreign Assets Control licenses that can permit imports and Development Finance Corporation authority that can fund projects, both of which Meeks' bill would curtail to stop Russian diesel flows.
- The Graham law prescribes steep tariffs—100% on goods from major buyers of Russian oil and 500% on direct Russian energy imports—and Section 115 lets the president pause those measures only by filing a written national-interest report to Congress, a dispute now driving oversight and possible legislative countermeasures.