The Congress on Wednesday sought a clarification from Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal after a bipartisan group of US senators unveiled a bill proposing 100 per cent tariffs on India and four other countries for purchasing oil from Russia, alleging that the country was being "humiliated" by the threat of punitive action.
The proposed legislation, introduced by a bipartisan group of senators and brokered by late Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, seeks to impose 100 per cent tariffs on imports from India, China, Slovakia, Hungary and Azerbaijan over their purchases of Russian oil.
The bill, however, exempts 15 European nations that continue to buy Russian gas, arguing that such imports constitute only a fraction of their total energy requirements and that those countries are taking steps to reduce their dependence on Moscow.
Reacting to the development, Congress leader and the party's media and publicity department head Pawan Khera questioned the Centre's position and asked Goyal to respond.
"Piyush Goyal, who is quick to dismiss reports that India is holding out for a better trade deal with the US, should clarify this. These aren't House Democrats. These are Republican Senators -- backed by Trump himself -- demanding 100 per cent tariffs on India and four other countries for buying Russian oil," Khera said in a post on X.
"Imagine the humiliation: needing Trump's approval to buy Russian oil, and now being threatened with punitive tariffs for doing exactly that," he added.
Apart from India and China, the proposed tariffs would also apply to Slovakia, Hungary and Azerbaijan.
If enacted, the legislation would mark the first time the US Congress has explicitly authorised the use of tariffs as a geopolitical tool to penalise countries accused of helping finance another nation's war effort through energy purchases.