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Trump Signed the Russia Sanctions Law. Four Weeks Later He Waived It. · Burn the Playbook with Michael Starr Hopkins

• 0:00
  President Trump put a 500% tariff on Russian goods into an executive order, then waived it in the same order. The penalty had a number. The waiver had no end date. It's October 21st, 2026.
• 0:13
  The question is: what became of the Russia sanctions law Trump signed four weeks earlier, and why the penalties written into it aren't taking effect? On September 18th, Trump signed the GRAM Act.
• 0:23
  Its sanctions, restrictions, and tariffs were written to run automatically. On October 16th, he signed Executive Order 14436. That order reached the Federal Register today.
• 0:35
  Section One identifies the law he signed and declares that he is waiving its sanctions, restrictions, and duties. Then, Section Two writes out the penalties anyway. Russian goods face a 500% duty.
• 0:47
  The five biggest importers of Russian oil and gas face a 100% duty if they knowingly make new purchases from October 18th onward. Another 100% applies to the top five countries helping Russia evade oil sanctions.
• 1:00
  Read those numbers alone and Washington sounds ready to squeeze Russian oil money. Keep reading and Section Four waives the duties, including the ones the order itself just announced.
• 1:10
  Trump managed to put the tariff and its escape hatch in the same document. Even the paperwork couldn't keep a straight face. The sanctions are waived section by section, too.
• 1:19
  The switch stays off until the president or the secretary of state, after consulting Treasury and the trade representative, decides further action is appropriate. The order supplies no deadline for that decision.
• 1:30
  But this did not erase every sanction on Russia. Existing sanctions under the Russia national emergency remained in place as they stood the day before the GRAM Act became law.
• 1:39
  People already sanctioned under those older orders stayed sanctioned. The distinction is between the old restrictions that survived and the new penalties that were waived.
• 1:48
  For anyone who thought this law had added automatic pressure on Russia and its oil customers, that distinction changes the answer. The next question is: who watches those customers now?
• 1:58
  The order gives the United States trade representative the job of tracking purchases of Russian crude and gas, along with countries helping Russia evade sanctions.
• 2:06
  If that office sees something that might require further action, it tells the president. Monitoring can supply information. It does not turn these penalties back on. The decision returns to the president who waived them.
• 2:18
  A buyer covered by the new purchase provisions faces that discretionary process instead of an automatic duty under this order. A tripwire became a suggestion box.
• 2:27
  That brings us to the explanation Congress was supposed to receive. The law allows a waiver if the president certifies that it serves the national interest and sends Congress a report explaining why.
• 2:37
  The order says he sent both. That claim belongs in the story alongside the waiver. The certification and report were not included with the order in the Federal Register. That leaves the reasoning unresolved here.
• 2:49
  It does not establish that the administration refused a request or that no copy exists elsewhere. A member of Congress who voted for this law can seek the report and make the case for the waiver available.
• 3:00
  The useful question is specific: What national interest justified switching off the penalties Congress had just enacted?
• 3:06
  Without that explanation, the public can read the penalty and the exception, but cannot judge the president's stated case from the order alone. Congress put a price on dealing with Russia.
• 3:16
  Trump put the price on paper and left the payment optional. Subscribe free at burn the playbook dot news for the reporting and next update. [upbeat music]