Trump approves main sanctions invoice that might threaten 500% tariff on India | EUROtoday

Donald Trump has “greenlit” new sanctions laws to punish international locations like China, India and Brazil for purchasing Russian oil, senator Lindsey Graham stated on Wednesday.

The bipartisan invoice targets international locations that proceed to do enterprise with Russia regardless of US sanctions, threatening as much as 500 per cent tariffs on consumers of Russian crude oil or uranium.

The invoice mounts the strain on India to reverse its rising buy of Russian oil because the conflict in Ukraine began about 4 years in the past. Delhi’s dealings with Moscow have been a significant irritant in ties with Washington throughout Mr Trump’s second time period, resulting in the president singling the south Asian nation out for steep import levies.

While Washington claims India’s import of discounted Russian crude helps fund Moscow’s conflict effort, Delhi insists it’s merely attempting to make sure vitality safety amid risky world markets and rising geopolitical instability.

India introduced 7.7m tonnes of Russian oil in November, accounting for over 35 per cent of its whole oil imports that month and practically 7 per cent larger than in November 2024, The Hindu reported.

India and China collectively now account for some 70 per cent of Russia’s vitality exports.

“This invoice will enable president Trump to punish international locations who purchase low-cost Russian oil fuelling Putin’s conflict machine,” Mr Graham said, naming China, India and Brazil as its potential targets.

The “secondary sanctions” bill has been in the works for months even while the Trump administration has been pushing for a peace deal in Ukraine.

Mr Graham said he was looking forward to a “robust bipartisan vote” on the legislation to take place as early as next week.

“If you are buying cheap Russian oil, you keep Putin’s war machine going,” he said, adding the aim was to give the president “the ability to make that a hard choice by tariffs”.

This got here simply two days after Mr Trump warned India over its buy of Russian crude, declaring that Washington might impose larger commerce tariffs if Delhi didn’t cut back imports from Moscow.

Speaking to reporters on Sunday, Mr Trump stated the choice of punitive duties remained firmly on the desk.

“We could raise tariffs on India if they don’t help on the Russian oil issue,” he stated.

Mr Trump stated India had already taken steps to cut back its dependence on Russian vitality provides, framing the transfer as an effort by Delhi to align with Washington’s expectations.

Mr Graham additionally claimed that India was buying “substantially less Russian oil” and credited the US president’s actions for this.

However, Indian authorities knowledge printed by The Hindu exhibits Russian oil imports rose to a six-month excessive in November.