US tariffs on India and China could rise by up to 500 per cent as soon as next week, as President Donald Trump has given his nod to the bipartisan Russia Sanctions Bill, which could be used to penalise Moscow's trading partners, including India, China, and Brazil, over Russian oil purchases.
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a prominent defence hawk, said the bill would give leverage against India, China, and Brazil to stop them from purchasing Russian oil and punish countries "fueling Putin's war machine".
Bill threatening 500% tariff gets Trump's nod
In a post on X, Republican Senator Graham said the President cleared the legislation, which will also sanction countries purchasing Russian uranium, after they held a "productive" meeting on Wednesday, adding that it could be put to a vote as early as next week. "This will be well-timed, as Ukraine is making concessions for peace, and Putin is all talk, continuing to kill the innocent. This bill will allow President Trump to punish those countries who buy cheap Russian oil, fuelling Putin’s war machine," he said.
"This bill would give President Trump tremendous leverage against countries like China, India, and Brazil to incentivize them to stop buying the cheap Russian oil that provides the financing for Putin's bloodbath against Ukraine. I look forward to a strong bipartisan vote, hopefully as early as next week," he added.
500% traffis on India and China?
The bill, chiefly written by Graham and Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal, allows the administration to impose tariffs and secondary sanctions up to 500 per cent on countries that purchase Russia's oil, gas, uranium and other exports. Doing so is meant to cut off the source of financing for much of Russia's military actions.
As per the official website of US Congress, the bill titled "Sanctioning of Russia Act 2025" by Graham seeks to impose several provisions, including
- the President must impose visa- and property-blocking sanctions on specified persons such as the Russian president, certain Russian military commanders, and any foreign person that knowingly provides defense items to the Russian armed forces;
- the President must increase the rate of duty on all goods and services imported from Russia into the United States to at least 500% relative to the value of such goods and services;
- the President must increase the rate of duty on all goods and services imported into the United States from countries that knowingly engage in the exchange of Russian-origin uranium and petroleum products to at least 500% relative to the value of such goods and services;
- the Department of the Treasury must impose property-blocking sanctions on any financial institution organized under Russian law and owned wholly or partly by Russia, and any financial institution that engages in transactions with those entities; and
- the Department of Commerce must prohibit the export, reexport, or in-country transfer to or in Russia of any U.S.-produced energy or energy product.
The White House has previously insisted on some revisions and flexibility for Trump in the sanctions package, but the White House official on Wednesday did not elaborate on whether any changes were secured.
The legislation has dozens of co-sponsors in the Senate, as well as a companion bill in the House, drafted by Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa.
Graham said there could be a vote as early as next week, although it's unclear how likely that will be. The Senate is poised to take up a scaled-back government funding package next week that the House is currently considering, if the House passes it. The following week is a Senate recess timed to Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
The Trump administration is currently trying to finalize a peace deal to end the war in Ukraine, now nearly four years old, with special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law, as the US president's chief negotiators.
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