A bipartisan group of 26 US senators—13 Republicans and 13 Democrats—has introduced a revised Russia sanctions Bill that proposes tariffs of up to 100% on imports from India, China, Slovakia, Hungary and Azerbaijan over their purchases of Russian oil.
The proposal, unveiled on July 14, 2026, is a scaled-down version of the Sanctioning Russia Act, first introduced on April 1, 2025, which had proposed tariffs of up to 500%. Supporters have presented the revised legislation as part of the legislative legacy of Senator Lindsey Graham, who died on July 12.
However, the Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) said India has little reason to worry. The think tank noted that the original Bill remained pending in the US Senate for more than 15 months without any action, indicating limited congressional support for such sweeping tariff powers. It said the revised Bill could face a similar fate.
According to GTRI, the proposal's prospects have been further weakened by recent US Supreme Court rulings that struck down both the reciprocal tariff regime and Section 122 tariffs, underscoring the legal limits on imposing tariffs outside established US trade laws.
The think tank also pointed out that even if the Bill is enacted, its implementation would remain uncertain. When Washington imposed additional tariffs on India in July 2025 over purchases of Russian crude, it did not take similar action against China despite Beijing importing significantly larger volumes of Russian oil. The revised Bill also exempts 15 European countries that continue to buy Russian gas, highlighting what GTRI described as the selective nature of the proposal.
Earlier, the US administration imposed a cumulative 25% tariff on several Indian exports over New Delhi's purchases of Russian crude. It also sanctioned two of Russia's largest oil companies—Rosneft and Lukoil—last year in an attempt to curb Russian oil exports. However, on February 6, 2026, Washington rolled back the 25% punitive secondary tariff after India assured the US that it would systematically reduce its imports of Russian Federation oil and sharply scale up purchases of US energy products.
Meanwhile, India has continued to import Russian crude, according to Kpler data. Russia has remained India's largest crude supplier, particularly after the US rolled back the secondary tariff and amid the West Asia conflict. India's imports of Russian crude rose from 1.72 million barrels per day (mbpd) in April 2026 to 2.14 mbpd in May, before climbing further to 2.73 mbpd in June.
