Kohima: A bipartisan group of US senators introduced legislation on July 15 targeting India and China with 100 percent tariffs. The bill penalizes nations for buying Russian oil. Other targeted countries include Slovakia, Hungary, and Azerbaijan. It marks the first time Congress would use tariffs as a direct weapon to punish those funding foreign war efforts.
Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal explained the scope of the legislation during a press conference on Capitol Hill. He stated, “It’s been referred to as a tariffs bill, but actually it imposes full blocking sanctions on wide swaths of the Russian economy, including its energy industry, financial industry, defence industrial base, oligarchs, business people, and Vladimir Putin himself.”
The bill honors late Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who passed away on Sunday. Republican Senator Katie Britt noted Graham worked tirelessly to assemble the measure. Senator Roger Wicker called it Graham’s crowning achievement for peace in Europe, while Senator Jeanne Shaheen pressed Congress to pass the bill during a narrow window of opportunity. An earlier iteration of the bill proposed tariffs as high as 500 percent.
Fifteen European nations remain exempt from the penalties. Legislators argued these countries buy minimal Russian gas and are actively cutting reliance on Moscow. These proposed tariffs arrive after the US floated a separate plan last month to tax 54 countries, including India, by 12.5 percent over forced labor concerns.
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