100% tariff coming for India? US makes fresh move
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Live Events ANI (@ANI) as a Reliable and Trusted News Source Addas a Reliable and Trusted News Source Add Now! (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel The US Senate on Friday passed a sweeping Russia sanctions package that will allow President Donald Trump to impose 100% tariffs on the world's top five buyers of Russian oil and gas, a list that puts India and China among the countries directly affected.The bipartisan bill passed 86-11 and caps a year-long campaign by the late Senator Lindsey Graham to reinforce US support for Ukraine and pressure President Vladimir Putin as the war, now longer than World War I, continues. The bill has since been renamed the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026.The bipartisan package that carries Graham's name allows the president to impose tariffs on the world's top five purchasers of Russian oil or natural gas, including China and India. It provides exceptions for countries that import less than 15% of their natural gas from Russia and are taking steps to reduce those imports.China, India, Azerbaijan, Hungary and Slovakia are currently the top five importers of Russian oil and gas, making them the countries most directly exposed to the new tariff authority.The Senate vote comes after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited the Capitol hours after Graham's funeral, met senators from both parties and watched from the gallery as the Senate took its first procedural votes last week.
Senator Richard Blumenthal, who worked with Graham on the bill, told the chamber that Zelenskyy was "watching from Ukraine" and Putin "watching from Moscow." He added that the US was telling Ukraine's people they are "not alone," and telling Putin he "will not conquer Ukraine."Graham and Blumenthal had announced a deal with the White House on the legislation on July 10, after more than a year of negotiations. Graham, who had just returned from a trip to Ukraine, died suddenly the next day, likely of an aortic tear.Senator Darline Graham, appointed to fill her brother's Senate seat, said he had been determined to end the war and that she was honoured to carry his work forward. "This legislation hits Putin where it hurts," she said. She added that the bill forces countries keeping Russia's economy afloat to choose between "doing business with America or buying cheap Russian energy."The Senate's move is the most substantial shift yet, during Trump's second term, in Congress's approach to the war, after lawmakers had struggled to keep US funding and munitions flowing to Kyiv. Trump has given his backing to the package, adding pressure on the House to take it up and send it to his desk.The legislation also sanctions Putin, senior Russian political and military leaders, Russian financial institutions and energy projects, and expands existing sanctions to cover older, reflagged oil tankers Russia uses to get around them.
The BriefWire