WASHINGTON DC: In a significant legislative move to curb funding for Moscow's military operations in Ukraine, a newly introduced Senate amendment to the "Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026", which was passed in August, mandates secondary tariffs of up to 100 per cent on goods imported from the top five largest buyers of Russian crude oil and natural gas, directly exposing major importers like India and China to massive trade levies.
The underlying legislation was passed by the US Senate on August 7, by an 86-11 vote to increase economic pressure on Russia and Iran.
The House Committee on Rules, amongst the oldest standing committees in the House, is currently processing the introduced Senate amendments.
The bill passed by the US Senate does not explicitly name Russia's trading partners, but specifically targets the five largest importers of Russian oil and gas by volume.
Section 113 of the statutory text of the amendment document outlines mandatory ad valorem trade duties.
"Not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the President shall, notwithstanding any other provision of law, increase the rate of duty for all goods imported into the United States from a country described in subsection (c) (and only from a country described in subsection (c)) to a rate of up to 100 percent ad valorem," the section read.
According to Section 113(c), a covered country is any foreign nation that "knowingly made new purchases of crude oil or natural gas that originated in the Russian Federation on a date that is on or after 30 days after the date of enactment of this Act; and was among the 5 largest importers, by total volume, of crude oil or natural gas that originated in the Russian Federation during the most recent 12-month period preceding the date of the enactment of this Act; or was among the top 5 countries facilitating Russian oil sanctions evasion during the most recent 12-month period preceding the date of the enactment of this Act." As India remains among the largest buyers of Russian seaborne crude alongside China, it falls directly under this top five volume trigger. (ANI)
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