US Senators Propose Trump-Backed Russia Sanctions Bill, India Among 5 Countries That Could Face Tariffs | Today’s news

A bipartisan group of US senators has introduced a long-awaited bill that could give President Donald Trump the power to impose sweeping sanctions on Russia. India has been named among five countries that could face tariffs for continuing to buy Russian oil under proposed legislation.

Dubbed the “Lindsey Graham Russia Accountability Bill” by some colleagues, the legislation was officially announced on Capitol Hill Tuesday by Senators Richard Blumenthal and Jeanne Shaheen, along with Republicans Roger Wicker, Katie Britt and more than a dozen other lawmakers from both parties, news agency ANI reported.

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“The Russia sanctions legislation championed by my friend Senator Graham will continue to have my full support in the Senate. We should enact this bipartisan measure to put maximum economic pressure on Putin’s war machine and help end this unjust war,” Wicker said in a post on X.

The bill comes days after the death of Sen. Lindsey Graham, who spent nearly two years negotiating the measure and was repeatedly cited by colleagues as its driving force. Senator Wicker, who served alongside Graham for more than three decades, called it “Lindsey Graham’s greatest achievement.”

Senator Blumenthal, the lead Democratic sponsor, said the bill goes far beyond tariffs and imposes full blocking sanctions on much of Russia’s economy, its energy and financial sectors, its defense industry, oligarchs and businessmen, and Russian President Vladimir Putin himself.

What does the bill propose?

The bill authorizes the administration to impose tariffs set at a level above zero, but capped well below the full value, on countries identified as the largest buyers of Russian oil. The five named countries are China, India, Slovakia, Hungary and Azerbaijan.

The law, once signed by President Trump, would give him the power to impose tariffs of up to 100% on countries, according to Bloomberg. But the bill exempts countries importing less than 15 percent of their gas from Russia if they already limit purchases, a restriction that protects most European allies, according to the ANI news agency.

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The senators said the actual rate had not been decided and would be set by the US Trade Representative.

Blumenthal said he expected it to be set high enough “to strongly deter China, India and other large buyers of Russian oil and gas.” The bill also includes a waiver of authority along with reporting requirements to Congress if tariffs are later reduced.

Senator James Risch, chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said he had pushed for a separate provision that would crack down on Russian “shadow fleet” tankers used to evade existing sanctions and continue to export oil.

Lawmakers pointed out that the bill was significantly narrowed down from earlier versions, which reportedly could have applied tariffs to up to 63 countries. Blumenthal said the current proposal targets a “very discrete number” of five oil and gas customers, with some overlap, a change he said reflected input from the Trump administration, which he said has now approved the bill in writing.

US sanctions on the purchase of Russian oil

The US administration has previously tried to impose tariffs on countries for buying Russian oil. The US imposed an extra 25% tariff on India last year on Russian oil imports, then rolled back the tariffs in February.

The US also granted countries temporary permission to buy Russian oil in April. The move, which has since expired, affected oil that would otherwise have been sanctioned in an effort to moderate rising energy prices during the Iran war.

Senators said they hoped the overhaul would win over House Democrats who criticized the broader earlier version of the bill. They argued that the timing of the bill was urgent, pointing to what they described as gains on the Ukrainian battlefield and continued Russian strikes on civilian areas. Some said they expected the Senate could act by the end of August and that they had received assurances from the Senate majority leader that the vote would go ahead once enough support was secured.

Trump backs bill: White House

India has so far resisted Western pressure to curb its purchases of discounted Russian crude, which have risen sharply since 2022 and now account for a significant share of its oil imports.

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New Delhi has previously defended the trade as a matter of energy security and consumer affordability, saying it also helps keep global oil prices stable.

Import of Russian oil to India

According to a report by the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), India’s imports of Russian crude oil jumped to a record high in June, rising 34 percent from the previous month, despite a decline in overall earnings from Russian oil exports.

India bought 4.5 billion euros worth of Russian crude in June, accounting for 83 percent of its total 5.5 billion euros of fossil fuel imports to Russia, making it the second largest buyer of Russian hydrocarbons after China, the report said.

Before the bill reaches President Trump’s desk, it must clear procedural hurdles in the Senate and pass the House of Representatives. Earlier, a White House official indicated that the Trump administration had signaled its support for a sweeping sanctions bill against Russia.

Key things

• The proposed sanctions law targets countries that heavily buy Russian oil, including India.
• President Trump’s support is critical to getting the bill through Congress.
• The legislation aims to put significant economic pressure on Russia while balancing energy security for allies.