WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump has backed a bipartisan bill aimed at imposing sanctions on countries purchasing Russian oil, including China and India, according to a senior Republican senator, Al Jazeera reported.
Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said on Wednesday that President Trump had “greenlit” the proposed legislation following what he described as a “very productive” meeting. The bill, titled the Sanctioning Russia Act, has been drafted jointly by Graham and Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal.
Under the proposed law, President Trump would be granted authority to impose tariffs of up to 500 per cent on imports from countries that continue to do business with Russia’s energy sector. “This bill will allow President Trump to punish those countries who buy cheap Russian oil, fueling Putin’s war machine,” Graham said in a statement, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
He added that the legislation would give the US president “tremendous leverage” over countries such as China, India and Brazil, with the aim of pressuring them to halt purchases of discounted Russian oil that, according to Washington, helps finance Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Despite sweeping US and European sanctions imposed after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, China and India remain the largest buyers of Russian crude. According to an analysis by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, China accounted for nearly half of Russia’s crude oil exports in November, while India purchased around 38 per cent. Brazil also sharply increased its imports of discounted Russian oil following the 2022 invasion, though volumes have declined in recent months.
However, experts have raised concerns over the effectiveness of the proposed approach. Catherine Wolfram, a former US Treasury official who worked on sanctions during the administration of former President Joe Biden, described the use of tariffs as a sanctions tool as “largely untested.”
“I worry that Russia and India will call the US government’s bluff and continue to import Russian oil, perhaps at a slightly discounted rate,” Wolfram told Al Jazeera. She cautioned that the economic and diplomatic cost to the United States of enforcing such measures—particularly amid sensitive trade negotiations with China—could be significant.
