Trump Greenlights Mega Sanctions Bill; India, China, Brazil in US Crosshairs
New Delhi: US President Donald Trump has cleared the decks for a hard-hitting sanctions push against Russia—and the countries buying its oil—by backing a bipartisan Bill that could slap punitive tariffs of up to 500 percent on imports from nations continuing to purchase discounted Russian crude, including India, China and Brazil.
The green signal was announced by Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who said Trump has approved the Sanctioning Russia Act of 2025, legislation he has been driving for months alongside Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal. The Bill already boasts support from at least 84 senators, underscoring rare bipartisan momentum in Washington.
Calling the move “well-timed,” Graham said Ukraine was making concessions for peace while Russian President Vladimir Putin continued what he described as a brutal war. The proposed law would hand Trump sweeping authority to decide tariff levels, arming the White House with what Graham called “tremendous leverage” over countries buying Russian oil that, he alleged, bankrolls Moscow’s war effort.
The legislative push sharpens pressure on India, which has emerged as one of Russia’s largest crude buyers since the 2022 Moscow–Kyiv conflict. Washington has repeatedly urged New Delhi to scale back imports, arguing that cheap Russian oil undercuts sanctions. Last month, Indian Ambassador Vinay Kwatra hosted US lawmakers, including Graham, for discussions that reportedly included India’s energy ties with Russia.
The US had already imposed 25 percent penalty tariffs on Indian goods last August over continued Russian oil purchases, taking India’s overall US tariff exposure to 50 percent, among the highest levied by Washington. New Delhi has maintained that its oil sourcing decisions are driven by price and market conditions.
India’s Russian oil imports surged after the war began, even as G7 nations enforced a $60-per-barrel price cap aimed at curbing Moscow’s revenues without jolting global markets. Indian refiners purchased over $50 billion worth of Russian crude in FY 2024–25, though official data shows imports easing by about 10 percent in the current financial year.
The standoff comes at a delicate moment for India–US trade ties. The US remains India’s largest export market, with shipments crossing $50 billion up to November 2025, even as New Delhi diversifies through new free trade agreements and negotiations with blocs such as the EU and the Eurasian Economic Union. Meanwhile, talks on a bilateral trade deal have stalled, with India saying it has made its “final offer.”
Adding a personal edge to the dispute, Trump remarked earlier this week that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was “not that happy” with him over US sanctions on Indian exports—an admission that highlights how geopolitics, energy security and trade are colliding in the next phase of Washington’s Russia strategy.
