Trump backs bill proposing 500% tariffs on India & China for buying Russian oil
New York/New Delhi: US President Donald Trump has approved a bipartisan sanctions proposal that would allow the United States to impose tariffs of up to 500 per cent on countries that continue buying Russian oil, according to Senator Lindsey Graham. The move is intended to increase pressure on Moscow by targeting the revenue streams that finance its war in Ukraine.
Graham said he had a “very productive meeting” with Trump at the White House on Wednesday, during which the president “greenlit” the sanctions bill that has been under discussion for several months. The legislation is designed to give Trump broad authority to penalise nations purchasing discounted Russian energy.
“This will be well-timed, as Ukraine is making concessions for peace, and Putin is all talk, continuing to kill the innocent,” Graham wrote on X. “This bill will allow President Trump to punish those countries who buy cheap Russian oil, fuelling Putin’s war machine.”
The senator said the proposal would provide “tremendous leverage” over countries such as China, India and Brazil, encouraging them to halt purchases of Russian oil. Graham added that he expects a “strong” bipartisan vote on the measure, possibly as early as next week.
The bill, introduced by Graham and Senator Richard Blumenthal, is titled the Sanctioning Russia Act of 2025. It calls for secondary tariffs and sanctions on “countries that continue to fund Putin’s barbaric war in Ukraine,” including a proposed 500 per cent tariff on the secondary purchase or resale of Russian oil. Nearly every member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee has co-sponsored the legislation. Trump has already imposed tariffs of up to 50 per cent on India, among the highest levies applied globally. These include a 25 per cent tariff linked to India’s purchases of Russian energy. Earlier this week, Graham said India’s ambassador to the United States, Vinay Kwatra, told him that New Delhi had reduced its Russian oil imports and asked him to convey a request to Trump to “relieve the tariff” on India. Speaking while accompanying Trump aboard Air Force One on Sunday, Graham said pressure must be applied to Russia’s customers to end the conflict. Trump remarked that sanctions were hurting Russia “very badly” and referred to India, after which Graham noted the 25 per cent tariff on Indian imports.
“This stuff works,” Graham said. “If you are buying cheap Russian oil, keeping Putin’s war machine going, we are trying to give the President the ability to make that a hard choice by tariffs.”
India imports about 88 per cent of its crude oil from overseas. Russian oil accounted for just 0.2 per cent of India’s imports until 2021, but after Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, India became the largest buyer of discounted Russian crude, with the share rising to nearly 40 per cent. In December, Russia remained India’s top supplier, though its share fell to less than 25 per cent from about a third in November. Data from Kpler show Russian crude imports into India are expected to drop to about 1.2 million barrels per day in December, down from 1.84 million barrels per day in November, the lowest level since December 2022.
with agency inputs
