# Trump Waives New Russia Sanctions and Tariffs on Oil Buyers as Brent Tops $111 and Nasdaq 100 Falls 5.5% in a Week

The order created, then immediately suspended, a 500% tariff on Russian goods and up to 100% tariffs on buyers of Russian energy such as India and China, while bitcoin held near $82,100.

- Published: 2026-10-17T05:38:56.693Z
- Canonical: https://polylog.news/crypto/2026-10-17/trump-waives-new-russia-sanctions-and-tariffs-on-oil-buyers
- Publisher: Polylog (Crypto desk)
- Section: geopolitics
- Sources: [Polylog editors](https://polylog.news), [US News](https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2026-10-16/trump-waives-many-russia-related-sanctions-tariffs-before-they-were-to-take-effect-under-new-law), [NBC News](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-administration/trump-suspends-new-russia-sanctions-deal-purchase-diesel-citing-nation-rcna603991), [Swarajya](https://swarajyamag.com/world/trump-waives-tariffs-of-up-to-100-per-cent-on-india-china-and-other-russian-oil-buyers-under-new-us-sanctions-law), [CoinDesk](https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2026/10/16/altcoins-outpace-bitcoin-as-celestia-jumps-16-warsh-silent-on-interest-rate-plans), [Bitcoin Magazine](https://bitcoinmagazine.com/news/bitcoin-under-pressure-says-coinshares)

President Donald Trump [waived key Russia sanctions](https://t.me/cointelegraph/72709) on Friday, along with tariffs of up to 100% on buyers of Russian oil and gas. The measures were days away from taking effect under a law he signed last month. [US News reports](https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2026-10-16/trump-waives-many-russia-related-sanctions-tariffs-before-they-were-to-take-effect-under-new-law) that the executive order both created and blocked a 500% tariff on Russian goods and the secondary tariffs on countries that buy Russian energy or help Moscow evade oil sanctions. The order cites a certification to Congress that the waiver is "in the national interests of the United States."

[NBC News reports](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-administration/trump-suspends-new-russia-sanctions-deal-purchase-diesel-citing-nation-rcna603991) that the waiver followed by one week an agreement Trump announced with Russian President Vladimir Putin to increase Russian diesel supplies to US and global markets. Trump said that deal was meant to lower costs. Coverage from Indian outlets focused on which countries would avoid the tariffs. [Swarajya noted](https://swarajyamag.com/world/trump-waives-tariffs-of-up-to-100-per-cent-on-india-china-and-other-russian-oil-buyers-under-new-us-sanctions-law) that the suspended tariffs would have fallen hardest on India and China, the largest buyers of Russian crude.

The energy and equity backdrop explains the choice. Brent crude [rose above $111](https://t.me/WatcherGuru/15541) on October 16. The Nasdaq 100 [closed the week down 5.5%](https://t.me/cointelegraph/72707), which Cointelegraph called its largest weekly decline since April 2025, and it now sits 7% below a high set ten days earlier. Television host Jim Cramer said oil and [a possible hedge fund blowup](https://t.me/cointelegraph/72706) made it one of the worst days of the year. No fund has been named, and the claim remains unconfirmed.

Crypto moved less than equities. [CoinDesk reported](https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2026/10/16/altcoins-outpace-bitcoin-as-celestia-jumps-16-warsh-silent-on-interest-rate-plans) bitcoin little changed near $82,100 while Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh gave no signal on rates, and celestia rose 16%. CoinShares [told Bitcoin Magazine](https://bitcoinmagazine.com/news/bitcoin-under-pressure-says-coinshares) that hot inflation data is putting bitcoin under pressure, but that a "difficult" market is different from a bearish one.

## What this means

The waiver shows the limit of US leverage. Enforcing 100% tariffs on India and China would push oil prices even higher at a time when Brent is already above $111 and US equities are falling, so Washington chose cheaper energy over punishing Moscow's customers. Russia, India and China benefit, because the threat of secondary tariffs now looks negotiable rather than binding. That is consistent with the desk's thesis that Russia retains its leverage in Eurasia and that India acts on its own energy interests. For crypto, the main transmission channel runs through inflation. Oil above $110 feeds the headline price indexes that CoinShares already describes as hot, and that leaves less room for the Federal Reserve to cut rates. The 2022 episode is instructive. An energy-driven inflation spike that year preceded aggressive monetary tightening and a deep drawdown in crypto. The likelier outcome over the coming weeks is that bitcoin keeps trading in line with liquidity-sensitive equities rather than acting as a hedge, while sanctions on Russian energy stay unenforced as long as oil prices remain high. This forecast would be wrong if Brent falls back quickly after the diesel deal adds supply, or if Congress moves to override the waiver.

## What to watch

- Whether Brent holds above $110 after the waiver and the extra Russian diesel supply. Sustained high prices would keep pressure on inflation readings and on rate expectations.
- Whether congressional sponsors of the sanctions law try to challenge the national-interest certification. A challenge would test whether Congress can still bind the executive on sanctions.
- Whether the hedge fund losses Cramer described are confirmed and lead to forced selling across assets. Forced selling would tie crypto more closely to equity drawdowns in the short term.