Washington: A bipartisan group of US Senators unveiled a bill that seeks to impose 100 per cent tariffs on five countries, including India and China, for purchasing oil from Russia.
The bill, brokered by late Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, exempts 15 European nations that buy gas from Russia from the tariffs, arguing that the purchases amount to a fraction of their total requirement and the countries in question were taking steps to reduce dependence on Moscow.
Apart from India and China, other countries that will be hit by the tariffs are Slovakia, Hungary, and Azerbaijan.
“It imposes tariffs that are targeted, narrowly limited to the five major purchasers, up to 100 percent, with waiver authority that is narrowly tailored and constricted. And those five major purchasers right now of oil are China, India, Slovakia, Hungary, and Azerbaijan. And on gas purchasers, it makes an exception for the purchasers who are buying less than 15% of total Russian natural gas imports and are taking significant steps to reduce their purchases,” said Senator Richard Blumenthal of the new bill at a press conference in Washington on Tuesday. The bill also includes sweeping sanctions against Russia’s vital energy, defence, financial and industrial sectors.
The bill is a softened version of the Sanctioning Russia Act, which was introduced in the US Senate in April last year and proposed a possible 500 percent tariff on countries purchasing Russian energy, including India. However, the Sanctioning Russia Act has failed to progress to a vote given concerns from legislators about the extreme provisions of the bill as well as lackluster support from President Trump. Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen made clear that the new bill would have much narrower tariff provisions.
According to Senator Blumenthal, the bill could be passed before August given that the legislators proposing the bill are confident it has the support necessary to pass the Senate. He added that the US Trade Representative would decide the exact tariff rate on the countries facing tariffs.
“The decision about the exact rate will be determined by the United States Trade Representative. We’ve had extensive discussions with him. I think it will be set at an appropriate level to discourage China, India and other major purchases of Russian oil and gas. Remember that there are reporting and certification requirements from the US Trade Representative to the Congress if the rate is lowered,” said Senator Blumenthal.
The legislators assembled at Tuesday’s conference also hailed the role played by late US Senator Lindsey Graham – who passed away suddenly last week – in spearheading the legislation. Graham was one of the key backers of the Sanctioning Russia Act of 2025 and played a key role in advancing the new legislation announced on Tuesday prior to his death.
