A bipartisan group of US senators has introduced legislation that would impose tariffs of up to 100% on imports from five countries – India, China, Slovakia, Hungary and Azerbaijan – over their purchases of Russian oil.
The bill, championed by the late Republican Senator Lindsey Graham and presented by lawmakers from both parties on Capitol Hill, also seeks to impose sweeping sanctions targeting broad sectors of the Russian economy, including its energy, financial and defense industries, as well as Russian oligarchs and President Vladimir Putin.
“It’s been referred to as a tariffs bill, but actually it imposes full blocking sanctions on wide swaths of the Russian economy, including its energy industry, financial industry, defence industrial base, oligarchs, business people, and Vladimir Putin himself,” Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut told reporters.
Blumenthal said the proposed tariffs were narrowly targeted at what lawmakers described as the five largest purchasers of Russian oil.
“It imposes tariffs that are targeted: narrowly limited to the five major purchasers – up to 100% – with waiver authority that is narrowly tailored and constricted. And those five major purchasers, right now, of oil are China, India, Slovakia, Hungary and Azerbaijan,” he said.
The legislation exempts 15 European countries that continue to import Russian natural gas, with sponsors arguing that their purchases account for only a small share of their energy needs and that they are actively reducing their dependence on Russian supplies.
If enacted, the measure would mark the first time the US Congress has explicitly authorized the use of tariffs as a geopolitical tool aimed at penalizing countries that finance another nation’s war effort. An earlier version of the proposal called for tariffs of up to 500% on countries importing Russian oil and gas.
The bill was unveiled days after Graham’s death and was presented as a tribute to the South Carolina senator, who had led efforts to advance the legislation.
Republican Senator Katie Britt said Graham had worked “tirelessly” to build support for the measure and believed it would become the most significant legislation of his career. Republican Senator Roger Wicker described the proposal as Graham’s greatest contribution to preserving peace in Europe, while Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen urged Congress to seize what she called a “narrow window” to pass the bill.
The announcement comes a month after the United States proposed separate tariffs of 12.5% on imports from 54 countries, including India, over allegations that they had failed to prevent imports of goods produced with forced labor.
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