Trump signs the Russia and Iran sanctions act, with tariff powers attached

On Friday, 18 September, the president signed into law H.R. 5334, the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026, which authorises and expands statutory sanctions, tariffs and prohibitions on Russia and extends existing sanctions on Iran¹. The law expands primary and secondary sanctions against Russian actors, targets the country’s shadow fleet and authorises presidential tariffs⁶.

It allows for primary and secondary sanctions on Russia and on other countries that support Moscow in its invasion of Ukraine¹⁰. It takes aim at Russia’s energy and defence sectors, alongside President Vladimir Putin and other senior officials⁷, and sanctions Putin himself⁸. The bill was championed by Senator Lindsey Graham⁸. President Zelenskyy thanked Trump for signing what he called critically important legislation¹⁰.

Why it matters to investors

The tariff authority, not the sanctions list, is the market-relevant part. The law clears the way for tariffs of up to 100 per cent on India and China⁵, Russia’s largest energy buyers, just days ahead of Xi Jinping’s visit to Washington⁴. Trump is set to meet Xi at the White House on 24 September⁸.

The grant of power is unusual in scale. One assessment cited by Reuters called it the first time in nearly forty years that Congress has handed the executive new tariff authority². Because the authority is discretionary, the exposure for trade-sensitive earnings is a decision rather than a schedule^4,5. That is a different kind of risk from a legislated tariff: it can appear or disappear between quarters, and it cannot be hedged against a published timetable^2,9.

What to watch

Domestic politics may set the pace. Reuters noted the risk of higher consumer prices ahead of the November midterm². The legislation opened a rift in the Democratic party, pitting Ukraine’s most ardent supporters against those more focused on tariff-spiked inflation³, and Democratic leaders have voiced grave concern about the breadth of the tariff authority the law affords⁹.

India is the first test case. It faces a new tariff threat now that the bill is law, with an amendment shaping the exposure⁵. The sequencing matters as much as the substance: whether the administration uses the authority before the summit, holds it as leverage during it, or leaves it unused afterwards will say more about the trade truce than the text of the act does^4,8.