Trump lets Russian oil sanctions waiver lapse, squeezing India imports
A U.S. waiver letting India buy Russian seaborne oil expired, tightening pressure on Moscow while risking higher fuel costs for allies and U.S. consumers.
A temporary U.S. waiver that had let India keep buying Russian seaborne oil expired on Saturday, closing a legal window that had helped blunt sanctions pressure on Moscow while also shielding global fuel markets from a sharper supply shock.
The lapse matters well beyond customs paperwork. It raises the compliance risk for refiners, traders, insurers and shipowners handling Russian crude, and it could force India, one of the biggest buyers of discounted Russian barrels, to adjust routes, payment terms or sourcing. In a market still rattled by the wider Iran conflict and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, even a narrow policy change can ripple into gasoline prices and inflation expectations in the United States.
The waiver was not a one-off exception. The Office of Foreign Assets Control issued General License 133 on March 5, 2026, authorizing the delivery and sale of Russian-origin crude oil and petroleum products loaded on vessels as of that date to India. Treasury later broadened the authorization with General License 134B on April 17, 2026, covering Russian-origin crude oil and petroleum products loaded on vessels as of April 17 and extending the relief through May 16. That is the date the latest license expired.
Scott Bessent had already signaled on April 16 that the United States would not renew the waiver for Russian oil, before Treasury extended it anyway as Asia-facing countries pressed Washington to keep alternative supplies moving during the energy shock. The reversal now brings policy back toward the harder line Bessent previewed, after a month in which Washington had chosen short-term market stability over immediate tightening.
The move also fits a broader sanctions campaign. In October 2025, Treasury said it was imposing further sanctions on Russia’s energy sector to degrade the Kremlin’s ability to raise revenue for its war effort. Letting the waiver lapse now strengthens that pressure, at least on paper, by making it harder for Russian oil to move under temporary cover.
Still, the practical effect may be as much a reshuffling of flows as an outright cutoff. Global markets were already strained, with contemporaneous coverage putting U.S. gasoline near $4.50 a gallon and oil above $100 a barrel. That is the tension at the center of the policy: Washington wants to choke off Russian wartime revenue, but every step that constrains supply also risks squeezing allies like India and feeding higher costs back home.
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