US President Donald Trump has reportedly backed a tough new bill that could sharply raise tariffs on countries continuing to buy oil and other energy products from Russia, a move that may significantly impact India, China and Brazil.
According to US Senator Lindsey Graham, one of Trump’s closest allies in the Senate, the president has approved a bipartisan proposal titled the Sanctioning of Russia Act 2025. While the Bill is yet to be passed by Congress, Graham said it could be brought up for a bipartisan vote as early as next week.
In a post on X, Graham said he met Trump at the White House on Wednesday, where the president expressed support for the legislation that Graham has been working on for several months along with Senator Richard Blumenthal and other lawmakers. Graham said the Bill would give Trump “tremendous leverage” over countries that continue to buy discounted Russian oil, which he claimed was helping to fund Russia’s war effort.
The Sanctioning of Russia Act 2025 proposes sweeping penalties on individuals and entities linked to Russia. One of its key provisions is a proposal to raise duties on all goods and services imported from Russia into the US to at least 500 percent of their value.
The bill also includes a controversial clause that would impose a 500 percent duty on imports from countries that “knowingly engage” in trade involving Russian-origin petroleum products and uranium. If enforced, this could directly affect major buyers of Russian energy, including India.
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, India has sharply increased its purchases of Russian crude, attracted by deep discounts offered amid Western sanctions. Russia emerged as India’s largest crude supplier, at times accounting for around 35 to 40 percent of total imports, compared with just 0.2 percent before the war.
Pressure from Washington has increased since Trump returned to the presidency in January 2025. In August 2025, the US imposed an additional 25 percent tariff on Indian exports over Russian oil purchases, taking the total tariff burden to 50 percent.
After stricter sanctions on Russian oil majors such as Rosneft and Lukoil took effect in late November 2025, India’s imports fell sharply. Data from Kpler shows shipments dropped from about 1.8 million barrels per day in November to nearly 1 million barrels per day in December.
In January 2026, Reliance Industries, India’s largest buyer of Russian crude, said it had not received any Russian oil for weeks and did not expect any deliveries during the month.
On January 4, Trump warned that tariffs on India could rise further if Russian oil purchases continued. India has rejected claims that Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave any assurance to stop buying Russian crude, reiterating that its energy decisions are driven by national interest and affordability amid global fuel price uncertainty.
