New Russia Oil Sanctions Bill Aims Tariffs at China, India

New Russian sanctions legislation spearheaded by the late Senator Lindsey Graham and backed by President Donald Trump would target the top five purchasers of Russian crude oil and natural gas, including China and India.

(Bloomberg) — New Russian sanctions legislation spearheaded by the late Senator Lindsey Graham and backed by President Donald Trump would target the top five purchasers of Russian crude oil and natural gas, including China and India. The measure, negotiated by a bipartisan group of senators, would grant Trump authority to hit the countries with tariff rates up to 100%.

That would ramp up economic pressure on Moscow to end its four-year-long invasion of Ukraine, which has caused roughly 2 million in combined military casualties and devastated Kyiv with nearly $200 billion in damage. If Trump imposed the levies, that also would threaten to shake the already volatile US trade relationships with China and India. It’s not the first time the US tried to punish other countries for purchasing Russian oil.

The US imposed an extra 25% tariff on India last year to penalize the country for importing Russian oil, then walked back the duties in February. Separately, the US granted a temporary authorization for countries to buy Russian oil in April. The move, which has since expired, impacted crude that would otherwise be sanctioned in an attempt to relieve rising energy prices during the Iran war.

The final tariff level will be set by the US Trade Representative, and it is expected to be at a level that will appropriately discourage the purchasing of Russian oil, Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, said in a press conference. The US and China reached a trade truce which is set to expire in November. Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are expected to meet in Washington this September, with US access to critical minerals from China high among the likely agenda items.

China has repeatedly used the minerals as leverage in trade disputes with Trump. The bill’s sponsors are confident is has sufficient support to pass the Senate after securing the president’s support, a Senate aide said. Still, it’s unclear what the timeline will be for bringing the bill to a floor vote.

Foreign policy hawks, led by Graham, have been pushing various versions of the sanctions legislation for the past year in an attempt to blockade Russia’s largest