Iran and Libya Sanctions Act

Now, despite the fact that Russia and Iran are both in the name of this law, most of the new stuff in this law is really about Russia.

The Iran portion basically keeps the existing Iran Sanctions Act in place through 2031.

The Russia portion adds a whole bunch of new sanctions and economic restrictions that are meant to put more pressure on Russia to end the war in Ukraine.

But probably the biggest part of the law is the tariffs.

What it allows is severe: tariffs of up to five hundred percent on all products from Russia on top of existing tariffs, tariffs of up to a hundred percent on goods from each of the five largest importers of Russian crude oil and natural gas and on countries that help ship sanctioned Russian oil, sanctions on Russian banks, on the shadow fleet, and on the energy sector.

It extends the Iran Sanctions Act by five years to twenty thirty-one, and it contains its own release valve.

The president may waive the tariffs or the sanctions by certifying to the Congress that doing so is in the national interest with a report explaining why.

That is the provision he used yesterday.