Executive order sets 500 percent duty on Russian goods, waives application

The President has signed Executive Order 14436, which raises the rate of duty on goods from the Russian Federation by 500 percent ad valorem and adds 100 percent duties on goods from the five largest importers of Russian crude oil and natural gas and from the top five facilitators of Russian oil sanctions evasion. The order, dated 16 October 2026 and published in the Federal Register of 21 October 2026 as FR Doc. 2026–21599, simultaneously waives the application of those duties and of most of the sanctions in the Graham Act, after a written certification to Congress that the waiver is in the national interest of the United States.

The measure implements the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 (22 U.S.C. 10802 et seq.), which the President signed into law on 18 September 2026 and which provides for sanctions on foreign persons, restrictions on persons and duties on goods imported from the Russian Federation and certain other countries. The order is issued under section 301 of title 3, United States Code, and rests on section 115 of the Act, which allows the President to waive any sanctions provision, restriction or duty provided the certification and an explanatory report are sent to Congress.

A 500 percent duty on Russian goods

Section 2(a) of the order increases the rate of duty on goods from the Russian Federation by 500 percent ad valorem, subject to the exceptions set out in section 114 of the Graham Act and to the waivers issued in section 4 of the order. Section 2(d) states that the increases apply in addition to any other duty, fee, tax, exaction or charge on the good, expressly including duties imposed under:

• title VII of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1671 et seq.);
• sections 122, 201 or 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2132, 2251 and 2411);
• section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 (19 U.S.C. 1862).

Secondary duties on buyers and facilitators

Section 2(b) raises by 100 percent ad valorem the duty on goods from the largest five importers of crude oil and natural gas of Russian origin, applicable if the country knowingly makes new purchases of Russian-origin crude oil or natural gas on or after 18 October 2026. Section 2(c) applies the same 100 percent increase to goods from the top five facilitators of Russian oil sanctions evasion, as defined in section 113(i) of the Act.

The United States Trade Representative, in consultation with the Secretaries of State, the Treasury and Energy, is tasked with monitoring imports and purchases of Russian-origin crude oil and gas and the facilitation of evasion, informing the President regularly and recommending further action. The Trade Representative must also report to the President on which countries rank among the top five facilitators.

The waiver certified to Congress

Section 4 waives, under section 115(a) of the Act, the application of any duties provided for in sections 112 and 113 of the Graham Act or in the order itself, and of the sanctions and restrictions in section 102(d). It further waives sections 102(a), 102(e), 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111 and 117 of the Act. Each waiver is accompanied by a certification to Congress and a report explaining its basis, consistent with section 115(b).

The waivers remain in force until the President, or the Secretary of State in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury and the Trade Representative, determines that further action is appropriate. The order states that nothing in it affects measures adopted under the national emergency continued on 24 March 2026 over specified harmful foreign activities of the Government of the Russian Federation (91 Fed. Reg. 15515), as in effect the day before the Act’s enactment.

Delegations and enforcement

Section 5 distributes the Act’s authorities among four departments and agencies:

• sections 102(a), 102(b), 102(c), 104(a), 108(b), 111(b) and 114(a)(2) to the Secretary of State and the Secretary of the Treasury, each in consultation with the other;
• section 115 to the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Treasury and the Trade Representative;
• sections 102(e)(1), 103(a), 103(b), 103(d), 104(b), 110(a), 110(c) and 116(a) to the Secretary of the Treasury;
• section 111(a) to the Secretary of Energy;
• sections 112 and 113(a), and the termination of any duty under section 117(a), to the Trade Representative.

The order also provides that the costs of its publication be borne by the Department of State.

For importers, energy traders and shippers the immediate effect is a duty schedule written into the statute book but suspended by a presidential waiver: the 500 percent and 100 percent rates exist on paper, and their activation depends on a future determination by the President or the Department of State. The naming of the five largest buyers of Russian crude and the five leading facilitators turns the order into a watchlist instrument, since any country placed on either list faces a 100 percent duty on its own exports to the United States.

Source: Federal Register, Vol. 91, No. 202, 21 October 2026, Presidential Documents, p. 66627 (official reference: FR Doc. 2026–21599).