Oct 17 (Reuters) – A day after suspending sanctions and tariffs related to Russian exports, the President of the United States, Donald Trump, said on Saturday that he has not yet made a final decision on the matter, while the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, said authorities want more time to assess the situation.
Rubio said on Saturday that the president would take up to 60 days to assess the economic impact of the sanctions and tariffs related to Russia, from which he had waived the application the day before.
“Many of you still do not know what my decision is, but we will find out, and you will find out as well,” Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida.
The suspension comes a few weeks before the November midterm elections, with Trump under pressure due to high energy prices, as the war with Iran destabilizes global oil supplies.
Trump signed on Friday a decree suspending major sanctions and tariffs provided for in the law known as the Graham Law, which he had signed last month at the request of lawmakers who want to pressure Moscow over the war in Ukraine.
The measures, including tariffs on Russian products and penalties for countries that purchase oil and gas from Russia, were due to take effect next week. The Friday decree did not specify for how long the exemption would last, but Rubio said Trump opted for a 60-day review period.
“I think the president wants to use this 60-day period to, in a way, analyze what imposing both sanctions and tariffs would mean for the global economy and even the U.S. economy,” Rubio told reporters before boarding a plane for a trip to Uzbekistan.
To make matters even more complicated, the Graham Law provides not only sanctions against Russia but also tariffs on products from countries that import Russian energy supplies. Rubio cited India, a key United States ally that has diversified its energy supplies but remains heavily dependent on Russian oil.
The Friday decree drew criticism from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who warned that it would encourage Russian President Vladimir Putin and prolong the war.
Diesel Supply
Rubio also advocated a separate United States deal with Russia to increase diesel supplies to global markets, with the aim of easing fuel prices, which have risen amid the war with Iran and energy supply disruptions.
Under the agreement, Trump said Russia would initially supply more than 300 thousand tons of diesel to the United States, followed by shipments in November and in the months to come.
“This diesel will be sold one way or another,” Rubio said. “The only difference is the amount the United States would receive.”
Rubio said the diesel deal and the sanction exemptions reflect the challenge of dealing with conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine, which have harmed global energy supplies.
“These conflicts around the world are beginning to overlap,” he said.
(Reporting by Nandita Bose in Kentucky and Gram Slattery in Washington)
