500% Tariff Shock? Why Trump’s Russia Oil Bill Has India In Its Crosshairs Next Week

A US bill backed by Trump could impose very high tariffs on countries that buy Russian oil. India may face fresh pressure as the Senate prepares to vote on the proposal.

India-US Trade Tensions: With a Senate vote expected as early as next week, the United States could impose tariffs of up to 500 per cent on India. The move is linked to a proposed law targeting countries that continue to buy Russian oil.

US President Donald Trump has backed the bill, which seeks to levy tariffs of up to 500 per cent on nations purchasing Russian oil. The legislation is meant to give the White House more power over countries such as India and China. Its goal is to push them to stop buying cheaper oil from Russia.

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said on Wednesday that the proposed law would push countries like China, India and Brazil to stop buying discounted Russian oil.

“After a very productive meeting today with President Trump on a variety of issues, he greenlit the bipartisan Russia sanctions bill that I have been working on for months with Senator Blumenthal and many others,” he wrote in a post on X.

Graham said the timing of the bill was important. “This will be well-timed, as Ukraine is making concessions for peace and Putin is all talk, continuing to kill the innocent. This bill will allow President Trump to punish those countries who buy cheap Russian oil fueling Putin’s war machine,” he said.

The senator added, “This bill would give President Trump tremendous leverage against countries like China, India and Brazil to incentivize them to stop buying the cheap Russian oil that provides the financing for Putin’s bloodbath against Ukraine.”

Graham said he expects the bill to be put to a vote in the Senate sometime next week.

Tariffs On India

President Trump has already imposed a 50 per cent tariff on India. This includes a 25 per cent tariff linked specifically to India’s purchase of Russian oil.

Graham and Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal introduced the Russia Sanctions Act of 2025. The proposed law seeks to impose tariffs and sanctions on countries that, in their words, “continue to fund Putin’s brutal war in Ukraine”.

One of the important provisions of the bill is a proposed 500 per cent tariff on the purchase and resale of Russian oil.

The legislation has received broad backing, with nearly every member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee signing on as a co-sponsor.

In a joint statement issued last year, Graham and Blumenthal said, “President Trump and his team have taken a bold step by adopting a new approach to stop the bloodshed between Russia and Ukraine. The final tool to end this war will be tariffs on countries like China, India and Brazil that support Putin’s war machine by buying cheap Russian oil and gas.”

Earlier this week, Graham said India’s Ambassador to the United States Vinay Kwatra had briefed him on New Delhi’s reduced purchases of Russian oil. He said the ambassador had urged him to speak to President Trump about providing tariff relief to India.

On Sunday, Graham travelled aboard Air Force One with Trump, where discussions included the proposed tariff bill. He said pressuring the customers of Russian President Vladimir Putin is essential to bring the Russia-Ukraine war to an end.

Trump said the sanctions were hurting Russia badly and mentioned India during his remarks.

Meeting With The Indian Ambassador

Graham later said the United States has imposed a 25 per cent tariff on India for buying oil from Russia. “About a month ago, I was at the Indian ambassador’s home, and all he wanted to talk about was how they are buying less oil from Russia,” he said.

He claimed that the ambassador asked him, “Will you ask the president to give us some tariff relief?”

“This strategy is working. If you are keeping Putin’s war machine going by buying cheap Russian oil, we are trying to give the President the ability to make that a very hard choice through tariffs. I believe what Trump did with India is the main reason India is now buying far less oil from Russia,” Graham said.

Last month, Ambassador Kwatra hosted several US senators at India House, the official residence of the Indian Ambassador in Washington DC. The guests included Senators Lindsey Graham, Richard Blumenthal, Sheldon Whitehouse, Peter Welch, Dan Sullivan and Markwayne Mullin.

Following the meeting, he wrote on X, “Had meaningful discussions on the India-US partnership, ranging from energy and defence cooperation to trade and key global developments. I am grateful for their support for strong India-US relations.”