India is well aware of the passing of sanctions bill in the US Congress which authorise President Donald Trump to impose sanctions on Russia and Iran and steep tariffs on its trading partners in oil and gas, including India and China. MEA Randhir Jaiswal addressing press today said, “we have already conveyed at senior levels of the US administration that the implications that this legislation could have on India’s energy security, for international energy markets, and for the overall relationship, I don’t have anything further at this point.”
Who voted in favour of the bill?
Apart from the 203 Republicans, 58 Democrats and one Independent voted in favour of the Lindsey O Graham bill. Seven Republicans and 152 Democrats opposed it. Amid these developments, the democratic opposition largely centred around the tariff authorities provided to Trump.
This particular bill is named after Senator Lindsey Graham, the South Carolina Republican who died in July after spending more than a year building support for it. “What we’re not for is giving more tariff authority to this president,” Congressman Richard Neal, a Democrat, said during debate on the bill.
The Lindsey O Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 seeks to impose sanctions not only on Russia’s leadership and energy sector, but also on the “shadow fleet” of vessels that enable Moscow to evade sanctions on oil deliveries.
The Lindsey O Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 also seeks to authorise Trump to impose stiff tariffs on China, India and other countries to reduce their dependence on Russian oil and gas, as well as additional sanctions on Iran.
What does the US bill mean for India?
The legislation does not automatically impose a 100 per cent tariff on Indian goods. Instead, it would create a mechanism through which the US president could impose duties of up to 100 per cent on countries that purchase Russian-origin crude oil or natural gas or are involved in facilitating sanctions evasion. A House amendment sponsored by Democratic Representative Steny Hoyer sought to explicitly identify 10 countries as initially eligible for duties of up to 100 per cent under the secondary tariff provisions.
The listed countries are:
- India
- China
- UAE
- Turkiye
- Azerbaijan
- Hungary
- Singapore
- Kazakhstan
- Kyrgyzstan
- The Slovak Republic.
It is interesting to note that the bill was passed in the House came on the final day that the House is expected to be in session for votes before the Nov. 3 elections. The vote on the bill happened at a time when pro-Ukraine groups have stepped up efforts to lobby support for their cause.
–With AP Inputs.
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US Congress passes bill to impose sanctions on Russia: Will India face 100% tariffs?
