Rubbish Check
CNBC Top News · 17 October 2026
source“Trump waives broad new Russia sanctions and tariffs under Graham Act, citing national interest”
R2/ 10
Lightly altered
Rubbish Rating — 1 = base fact, 10 = pure rubbish
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In short
Rubbish Talk rates CNBC's headline that Trump "waives broad new Russia sanctions and tariffs under Graham Act, citing national interest" a 2/10 because the order genuinely waives the law's two tariff provisions and the "national interest" framing is a direct quote from Trump's own certification.
The Verdict
Lightly altered. The headline is a faithful, unembellished description of the executive order: it names the law, the action (waiver), and the stated justification, all of which are confirmed in the text. The only quibble is that "sanctions" slightly blurs what's actually waived, which is specifically the Act's tariff provisions, while existing sanctions remain intact, but this is a minor imprecision rather than a distortion, and the body clarifies it immediately.
What actually happened
Trump signed an executive order waiving two tariff provisions of the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026, two days before they were due to take effect. He submitted to Congress a certification that the issuance of such a waiver is in the national interests of the United States. The order leaves existing Russia sanctions from earlier executive orders in place.
Key facts
- The House passed the Russia sanctions bill on Sept. 16, and Trump signed it into law two days later, with the legislation named for its primary backer, the late Sen. Lindsey Graham.
- The act required the president to increase duties on all Russian goods imported into the U.S. by up to 500% no later than 30 days after enactment.
- It also required Trump to impose tariffs of up to 100% on countries including China and India that are among the top five purchasers of Russian crude oil or gas.
- Trump's latest order waives these two parts of the Graham Act and comes two days before the law's implementation deadline. However, the order preserves existing sanctions on Russia under earlier executive orders.
- The move also comes a week after the Trump administration temporarily waived sanctions on Russian diesel exports through April 2027 to ease a supply crunch caused by the war in Iran.
What to watch for
Watch whether the tariff waiver is extended again as the midterms approach, since high fuel prices are a sensitive issue for voters ahead of midterms elections on Nov. 3. Also watch Zelenskyy's warning play out: "Sanctions will be lifted after gas… They will be lifted on something else. Then this will come to the banking system, certain individuals, chemical industry." If further Graham Act provisions get waived next, that would validate the "creeping rollback" read rather than a one-off exemption.
About this scoreThe R-Score is Rubbish Talk's editorial opinion on how far a headline's framing sits from what the underlying facts support. It is a judgement about presentation and emphasis, not an allegation that any outlet has acted dishonestly. Every figure we rely on is linked under Receipts so you can check it yourself.
