US to impose 100 per cent tariff for buying oil from Russia
Washington: Bipartisan group of Senators has announced a new sanctions bill that proposes tariffs up to 100 per cent on exports from India. China, and three other states for buying oil from Russia. The new bill regarding 100 per cent of tariffs is backed by the White House. The bill is expected to be passed before August and aims to cripple Russia’s revenues from its energy exports and force an end to the long-standing Russia Ukraine conflict.
Congressmen Richard Blumenthal stated on the new bill during a press conference on 14th July 2026 at Washington that “It imposes tariffs that are targeted, narrowly limited to the five major purchasers, up to 100 percent, with waiver authority that is narrowly tailored and constricted. And those five major purchasers right now of oil are China, India, Slovakia, Hungary, Azerbaijan. And on gas purchasers, it makes an exception for the purchasers who are buying less than 15% of total Russian natural gas imports and are taking significant steps to reduce their purchases.”
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The new bill also consists of sweeping sanctions against Russia’s vital energy, defence, financial, and industrial sectors.
The experts see the bill as a soft version of the Sanctioning Russia Act, which was proposed in April 2026 imposing a possible tariff on 500 per cent on countries purchasing energy from Russia, including India. However, the 500 per cent tariff bill collapsed in the congress due to concerns from legislators regarding the extreme provision of the bill as well as lackluster support from US President Trump. Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen made clear that the new bill would have much narrower tariff provisions.
As per Blumenthal, the bill could be passed before August given that the members of the house are enough confident that it has the support necessary to pass the bill. He further added that the US Trade Representative would decide the exact tariff rates on the countries which are in energy deal with Russia.
He said, “The decision about the exact rate will be determined by the United States Trade Representative. We've had extensive discussions with him. I think it will be set at an appropriate level to discourage China, India and other major purchases of Russian oil and gas. Remember that there are reporting and certification requirements from the US Trade Representative to the Congress if the rate is lowered.”
Indian administration has not reacted to the new tariff bill yet.
