Trump approves major sanctions bill that could threaten 500% tariff on India

Donald Trump has “greenlit” new sanctions legislation to punish countries like China, India and Brazil for buying Russian oil, senator Lindsey Graham said on Wednesday.

The bipartisan bill targets countries that continue to do business with Russia despite US sanctions, threatening up to 500 per cent tariffs on buyers of Russian crude oil or uranium.

The bill mounts the pressure on India to reverse its growing purchase of Russian oil since the war in Ukraine started about four years ago. Delhi’s dealings with Moscow have been a major irritant in ties with Washington during Mr Trump’s second term, leading to the president singling the south Asian nation out for steep import levies.

While Washington claims India’s import of discounted Russian crude is helping fund Moscow’s war effort, Delhi insists it is merely trying to ensure energy security amid volatile global markets and rising geopolitical instability.

India brought 7.7m tonnes of Russian oil in November, accounting for over 35 per cent of its total oil imports that month and nearly 7 per cent higher than in November 2024, The Hindu reported.

India and China together now account for some 70 per cent of Russia’s energy exports.

“This bill will allow president Trump to punish countries who buy cheap Russian oil fuelling Putin’s war machine," Mr Graham said, naming China, India and Brazil as its potential targets.

The “secondary sanctions” bill has been in the works for months even while the Trump administration has been pushing for a peace deal in Ukraine.

Mr Graham said he was looking forward to a "strong bipartisan vote" on the legislation to take place as early as next week.

“If you are buying cheap Russian oil, you keep Putin’s war machine going,” he said, adding the aim was to give the president “the ability to make that a hard choice by tariffs”.

This came just two days after Mr Trump warned India over its purchase of Russian crude, declaring that Washington could impose higher trade tariffs if Delhi did not reduce imports from Moscow.

Speaking to reporters on Sunday, Mr Trump said the option of punitive duties remained firmly on the table.

“We could raise tariffs on India if they don’t help on the Russian oil issue,” he said.

Mr Trump said India had already taken steps to reduce its dependence on Russian energy supplies, framing the move as an effort by Delhi to align with Washington’s expectations.

Mr Graham also claimed that India was purchasing “substantially less Russian oil” and credited the US president’s actions for this.

However, Indian government data published by The Hindu shows Russian oil imports rose to a six-month high in November.