The US Senate has introduced a new sanctions bill imposing 100% tariffs on the top five Russian oil buyers.

(Washington, D.C.) A new sanctions bill on Russia, spearheaded by the late Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, would target five major Russian oil and gas buyers, including China and India, and could impose tariffs of up to 100%.

This new bill, drafted through negotiations between senators from both parties, has received President Trump's support. If implemented, it will increase pressure on Moscow to end the war, which has claimed 2 million lives and caused nearly $200 billion (approximately S$258 billion) in economic losses to Ukraine. If Trump chooses to implement tariffs, it could further strain already fragile trade relations between the US and China and India.

The top five buyers of Russian crude oil are, in order, China, India, Slovakia, Hungary, and Azerbaijan, while the top five buyers of Russian natural gas are China, France, Japan, Hungary, and Belgium.

Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal, one of the bill's lead sponsors, said at a press conference on Tuesday (July 14) that the final tariff rate will be set by the Office of the United States Trade Representative and is expected to be a level that would discourage buyers from purchasing oil from Russia.

On the same day, Trump told reporters at the White House that the bill was also in memory of Lindsey Graham, who had been actively advocating for sanctions against Russia in recent years and died suddenly on Saturday .

Trump also said the bill could be supplemented with provisions targeting Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon. However, Blumenthal disagreed with adding new provisions to a highly technical and complex bill.

Previous versions of the bill proposed tariffs as high as 500%, but the final decision was to impose 100%. It also included exclusion clauses, exempting natural gas imports from Russia up to 15% of the total, thus excluding countries like France and Japan from tariff sanctions. The final version also added provisions allowing Trump to grant exemptions if they align with U.S. national interests.

It remains uncertain when the new bill will be submitted to the Senate for a vote. Some senators hope to move it forward as soon as possible this week, but according to the rules, it will require the consent of all senators.

Republican Senator Rand Paul told Bloomberg that he remains opposed to the sanctions bill and will try to delay its passage in the Senate.

Source: [Lianhe Zaobao] (https://www.zaobao.com/news/world/story20260715-9368019)