United States President Donald Trump on Friday signed an executive order putting on hold a law that allows him to impose tariffs of up to 100% on India and other countries that purchase Russian oil and gas.
Trump told the US Congress that the waiver was in the national interests of the US.
While Trump had given his assent to the legislation on September 18, the signing of the bill into law had not automatically triggered the tariffs.
The law states that the tariffs could apply to the five countries that imported the largest volumes of Russian crude oil or natural gas in the 12 months before the law takes effect, if they knowingly continue buying Russian crude oil 30 days after the law is enacted.
The president’s order pausing the implementation of the law comes before the 30-day period was to conclude on Sunday.
Trump’s decision also came a week after he announced that the US had agreed to purchase diesel from Russia to lower global energy prices. This was despite such a purchase potentially hurting its partner Ukraine in its war with Russia.
Washington has for long claimed that the purchase of Russian energy has been fuelling Moscow’s war on Ukraine that began in February 2022.
The sanctions bill was passed by the House of Representatives on September 16. The Senate had cleared it...