US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks with members of the media before boarding a plane en route to Samarkand, Uzbekistan, as he embarks on a trip to Uzbekistan and India, at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, on October 17, 2026.
| Photo Credit: Reuters
U.S. President Donald Trump wants to take a 60-day period to analyse what imposing sanctions on Russia and tariffs on other countries would mean for the global economy, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in Washington.
Mr. Rubio was responding to questions on Saturday (October 17, 2026) evening ahead of his departure for a week-long tour of Uzbekistan and India.
“I think the President wants to take the 60-day period of time to sort of analyse what imposing both sanctions and tariffs will mean to the global economy, and even to the U.S. economy,” Mr. Rubio said in response to a question on the waivers granted by Mr. Trump under the Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act or the Graham Act.
On Friday (October 16, 2026), Mr. Trump waived key provisions of the Graham Act that authorised punitive tariffs on countries purchasing Russian oil, offering relief to India.
The executive order signed by Mr. Trump on Friday (October 16, 2026) states that the waivers shall remain in effect until such time as the President or the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury and the Trade Representative, as appropriate, determine that further action is appropriate.
He said when the Graham Act was passed, the waivers were put in to study the different things going around the world such as the pressure on global energy supplies due to the Iran war, the attack of Houthis in Saudi Arabia and the Ukraine-Russia war.
“So I think you have to take all of that into account and weigh it against each other,” Mr. Rubio said.
“Then you’ve got countries like India, for example, that have voluntarily diversified their energy portfolio, but are still getting a substantial amount of energy from Russia because it’s hard to pivot from one day to the next,” said the Secretary of State, who is scheduled to be in India on Monday (October 19, 2026).
Mr. Rubio said India is an important ally and partner of the United States, and the President needs that period of time to sort of study all this and figure out what the right combination is.
Published – October 18, 2026 08:18 am IST
