The review may take 60 days. The waiver does not automatically expire when that period ends.
That distinction matters following Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s statement that President Donald Trump would take up to 60 days to assess Russia-related sanctions and tariffs waived under the Graham Act. Reuters reported the comments on October 18. Reuters.
The underlying October 16 executive order establishes a different legal timeline: its waivers remain effective until the President or designated officials determine that further action is appropriate. It contains no automatic 60-day expiry. Executive order.
What the order waives - and what it preserves
The order waives specified sanctions, restrictions and duties under the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026.
It also expressly preserves specified pre-existing Russia-related executive-order sanctions. Consequently, the development should not be described as a wholesale lifting of U.S. sanctions on Russia. Executive order.
For trade counsel, those qualifications are the starting point. A transaction may remain restricted under another measure even where a particular statutory penalty has been waived.
Why “60-day pause” is an unreliable shorthand
A review period describes when officials expect to assess a policy. An expiry provision determines when a legal instrument ceases to operate.
Treating them as interchangeable could lead a business to assume that restrictions automatically return on a particular date - or that the current position is guaranteed to remain unchanged until then.
Neither conclusion follows simply from a statement about the anticipated review.
The operative instrument must establish the relevant duration, scope and mechanism for change.
What Canadian businesses need to distinguish
Canadian counsel advising on cross-border transactions should separate three questions:
- Which U.S. sanctions or duties have been waived?
- Which other restrictions remain applicable?
- What further official action could change the position?
Canadian sanctions require their own assessment. A U.S. waiver does not establish permission under Canadian law.
Commercial arrangements may also contain sanctions clauses that need separate interpretation. A legal waiver does not automatically resolve contractual obligations, banking requirements or a counterparty’s willingness to proceed.
Build advice around the transaction
A useful assessment identifies the parties, ownership interests, goods or services, payment route and jurisdictions involved. It then connects each potentially applicable restriction to those facts.
That approach is more dependable than describing an entire country as “sanctioned” or “unsanctioned.”
Businesses should also preserve the basis and date of their assessment. Where further government action remains possible, an earlier conclusion may need to be revisited before performance.
The compliance calendar should follow the legal instrument - not the shorthand used to describe the political review.
Related coverage: TikTok Gatekeeper Appeal: EU Advocate General Clarifies Evidence Threshold.
Sources: Reuters: Rubio describes the review · White House: October 16 executive order .