US President Donald Trump has greenlit a bipartisan Russia Sanctions Bill, which allows the United States to impose at least 500% tariff on India, China and Brazil to curb their Russian oil imports.
“This bill will allow President Trump to punish those countries who buy cheap Russian oil fueling Putin's war machine,” Republic Senator Lindsay Graham wrote on X, formerly Twitter. He, along with Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal, drafted the bill.
“This bill would give President Trump tremendous leverage against countries like China, India and Brazil to incentivise 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.”
Sanctioning of Russia Act 2025
The Sanctioning of Russia Act 2025 (S. 1241), is designed to force Russia into peace negotiations in Ukraine by crippling its economic lifelines.
The Act requires the US president to determine every 90 days if Russia is refusing to negotiate a peace agreement or has violated one. A negative determination triggers “bone-crushing” mandatory sanctions. The key provisions of the Bill are:
- 500% Tariffs: It mandates tariffs of at least 500% on goods from any country that knowingly imports Russian oil, gas, or uranium. This provision explicitly targets major importers like China, India, and Brazil to cut off Russia's war financing.
- Secondary sanctions: It imposes secondary sanctions on foreign financial institutions and entities that facilitate transactions for Russia's energy sector.
- Asset freezes and bans: The bill blocks assets of Russian officials (including Vladimir Putin) and oligarchs, bans Russian stocks from US exchanges, and prohibits US investment in Russian energy.
The Act requires the US president to determine every 90 days if Russia is refusing to negotiate a peace agreement or has violated one. A negative determination triggers “bone-crushing” mandatory sanctions. The key provisions of the Bill are:
- 500% Tariffs: It mandates tariffs of at least 500% on goods from any country that knowingly imports Russian oil, gas, or uranium. This provision explicitly targets major importers like China, India, and Brazil to cut off Russia's war financing.
- Secondary sanctions: It imposes secondary sanctions on foreign financial institutions and entities that facilitate transactions for Russia's energy sector.
- Asset freezes and bans: The bill blocks assets of Russian officials (including Vladimir Putin) and oligarchs, bans Russian stocks from US exchanges, and prohibits US investment in Russian energy.
The Bill signals a potential shift toward aggressive economic coercion against nations sustaining Russia's economy.
India's Russian oil imports — then and now
On 23 August, the US doubled its tariff on Indian goods to 50% as a pushback against New Delhi's Russian oil imports—India emerged as the biggest buyer of Russian crude since the Ukraine war broke out in 2022 amid American and European sanctions on Moscow.
Since then, however, India has reduced such purchases.
India's Russian oil imports fell to a three-year low of 1.2 billion barrels per day in December, according to industry tracker Keplr. That marks a roughly 40% drop from a June 2024 peak of around 2 million bpd. With biggest importer Reliance Industries Ltd. expecting no delivery in January, India's Russian oil imports are set to fall even further.
Donald Trump on US tariffs on India
"I have a very good relationship with PM Modi, but he is not happy with me as India is paying high tariffs. But now they have reduced it very substantially, buying oil from Russia," Donald Trump had previously said. “They wanted to make me happy, basically. Modi is a very good man; he is a good guy. He knew I was not happy, and it was important to make me happy.”
India, on its part, has rejected Trump's assertion that PM Narendra Modi had assured him that New Delhi would stop purchasing Russian oil, clarifying that no such conversation or assurance had taken place.