US pushes 100% tariffs on India over Russian oil

WASHINGTON, JUL 15 (PTI): A bipartisan group of US Senators unveiled a bill seeking to impose 100 per cent tariffs on five countries, including India and China, for purchasing oil from Russia.
The bill, brokered by late Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, exempts 15 European nations that buy gas from Russia, arguing that their purchases account for only a fraction of their total requirement and that they are taking steps to reduce dependence on Moscow.
Apart from India and China, the other countries targeted by the tariffs are Slovakia, Hungary and Azerbaijan.
“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 said.
He said the bill imposes targeted tariffs of up to 100 per cent on the five major purchasers of Russian oil, with limited waiver provisions.
If passed, the legislation would be the first time Congress explicitly authorises the use of tariffs as a geopolitical weapon aimed at punishing countries financing another nation’s war effort.
An earlier version of the bill had proposed 500 per cent tariffs on purchasers of Russian oil and gas.
At a press conference on Capitol Hill, Republican and Democratic senators jointly presented the bill as a tribute to Graham, the South Carolina senator who died on Sunday.
Senator Katie Britt said Graham had worked “tirelessly, relentlessly” to bring the measure together and believed it would become the most consequential legislation of his career.
Senator Roger Wicker described the bill as Graham’s greatest achievement in preserving peace in Europe, while Senator Jeanne Shaheen urged Congress to act during the “narrow window” to pass the legislation.
Last month, the US proposed imposing 12.5 per cent tariffs on 54 countries, including India, for allegedly failing to prohibit imports of goods produced with forced labour.