500% tariff on India? Trump 'okays' Bill targeting purchase of Russian oil

US President Donald Trump has purportedly backed a Bill that threatens to raise tariffs on countries buying energy products, including oil, from Russia, to at least 500 per cent. If approved, the Bill will add pressure on countries like India, China and Brazil which continue to purchase Russian oil despite US sanctions.

According to US Senator Lindsey Graham, among Trump’s closest congressional allies in the Senate, the US President has approved a bipartisan Bill titled the 'Sanctioning of Russia Act 2025'. Although the Bill has not yet been passed, 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 earlier on Wednesday, where the President gave his approval to the Bill that he had been working on for months with Senator Blumenthal and many others

“This Bill will allow President Trump to punish those countries who buy cheap Russian oil fuelling Putin’s war machine,” Graham said, adding that it would give Trump “tremendous leverage” over India, China and Brazil.

What is the ‘Sanctioning of Russia Act 2025’?

According to the US Congress website, the legislation, titled the “Sanctioning of Russia Act 2025”, proposes wide-ranging penalties on individuals and entities connected to Russia. One major provision includes increasing duties on all goods and services imported from Russia into the US to at least 500 per cent of their value.

Another provision calls for a 500 per cent duty on goods and services imported from countries that "knowingly engage in the exchange of Russian-origin uranium and petroleum products".

How much Russian oil India buys?

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, India increased its purchases of Russian crude oil due to steep discounts offered by Moscow in view of Western sanctions. Russia became India’s largest crude supplier, with Russian oil at times accounting for about 35-40 per cent of India’s total crude imports, up from roughly 0.2 per cent before the war.

Following Trump’s return to the presidency in January 2025, Washington intensified pressure on countries continuing to buy Russian oil. In August 2025, the Trump administration imposed an additional 25 per cent tariff on Indian exports for purchasing Russian crude, taking the overall tariff burden to 50 per cent.

After tougher sanctions on Russian oil majors such as Rosneft and Lukoil came into effect in late November 2025, India’s imports of Russian crude fell sharply, from about 1.8 million barrels per day in November to around 1.0 million barrels per day in December, according to data from analytics firm Kpler.

In January 2026, Reliance Industries Limited, India’s largest buyer of Russian oil, said it had not received any Russian deliveries for weeks and did not expect any in January, signalling a further decline in imports.

<>bTrump threatens to increase tariff on India

On January 4, Trump said the US could raise tariffs further if India did not stop buying Russian oil.

“They (India) wanted to make me happy, basically. (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi is a very good man; he is a good guy. He knew I was not happy, and it was important to make me happy. They do trade and we can raise tariffs on them very quickly. It would be very bad for them,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One, referring to India’s recent reduction in purchases of Russian crude oil.

India has earlier rejected Trump’s claim that PM Modi had assured him that New Delhi would stop buying Russian oil. The government said no such assurance or conversation had taken place. New Delhi has repeatedly stated that its energy purchases are based on national interest and affordability, especially at a time of global fuel price uncertainty.