US Congress passes bill to impose sanctions on Russia: Will India will face 100% tariffs?
In a significant development, the US Congress on Thursday passed the sweeping sanctions bill which authorise President Donald Trump to impose sanctions on Russia and steep tariffs on its trading partners in oil and gas, including India and China. It should be noted that the Lindsey O Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026, which was passed by the US Senate last month, was approved by the House in a 262-159 vote and will now go to Trump to be signed into a law.
Who voted in favour of the bill?Â
Apart from the 203 Republicans, 58 Democrats and one Independent voted in favour of the legislation. Seven Republicans and 152 Democrats opposed it. Amid these developments, the democratic opposition largely centred around the tariff authorities provided to Trump.
This particular bill is named after Senator Lindsey Graham, the South Carolina Republican who died in July after spending more than a year building support for it. “What we’re not for is giving more tariff authority to this president,” Congressman Richard Neal, a Democrat, said during debate on the bill.
The Lindsey O Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 seeks to impose sanctions not only on Russia’s leadership and energy sector, but also on the “shadow fleet” of vessels that enable Moscow to evade sanctions on oil deliveries.
The Lindsey O Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 also seeks to authorise Trump to impose stiff tariffs on China, India and other countries to reduce their dependence on Russian oil and gas, as well as additional sanctions on Iran.
China and India, you better buy your oil and gas somewhere else:Â Blumenthal
“China and India, you better buy your oil and gas somewhere else,” Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal, told reporters after the passage of the Bill. “Russia is getting that oil and gas sold by using the shadow fleet, which means that it’s being bought at less than market rates, and it’s going mostly to countries like China and India,” Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen said.
“China is the top user of Russian oil and gas, and we need to send a very strong message, not just to Putin, but to China, and to anybody who is buying Russian oil and gas, that they are going to pay a price for that,” Shaheen said.
The passage of the Lindsey O Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 comes days ahead of China’s President Xi Jinping’s official visit to the US. The US Senate overwhelmingly passed the bill by a vote of 86-11 last month, but momentum slowed in the House.
What does the US bill mean for India?
The legislation does not automatically impose a 100 per cent tariff on Indian goods. Instead, it would create a mechanism through which the US president could impose duties of up to 100 per cent on countries that purchase Russian-origin crude oil or natural gas or are involved in facilitating sanctions evasion. A House amendment sponsored by Democratic Representative Steny Hoyer sought to explicitly identify 10 countries as initially eligible for duties of up to 100 per cent under the secondary tariff provisions.
The listed countries are:
- India
- China
- UAE
- Turkiye
- Azerbaijan
- Hungary
- Singapore
- Kazakhstan
- Kyrgyzstan
- The Slovak Republic
It is interesting to note that the bill was passed in the House came on the final day that the House is expected to be in session for votes before the Nov. 3 elections. The vote on the bill happened at a time when pro-Ukraine groups have stepped up efforts to lobby support for their cause.
With inputs from AP
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