US House amendments name India in Russia sanctions tariff push
US lawmakers have filed amendments to a sanctions bill targeting Russia, with one proposal naming the country’s biggest oil trading partners, including India, for possible 100 per cent duties, while another seeks to remove the tariff provision entirely.
The Lindsey O Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act, passed by the US Senate by an 86-11 vote last month, is now before the House of Representatives, which has four working days left before it goes into an early recess ahead of the midterm elections on November 3.
The bill seeks to impose sanctions on Russia’s leadership and energy sector, as well as the "shadow fleet" of vessels that the US says helps Moscow evade sanctions on oil deliveries. Washington believes Russia’s crude oil trade is helping fund the war against Ukraine. The bill also seeks to authorise President Donald Trump to impose 100 per cent tariffs on Russia’s top oil trading partners, including China and India.
An amendment moved by Democratic Congressman Steny Hoyer would explicitly name China, India, Turkiye, Azerbaijan, Hungary, the Slovak Republic, the UAE, Singapore, Kazakhstan and the Kyrgyz Republic as countries eligible for the 100 per cent duties. The bill passed by the Senate on August 7 does not name Russia’s trading partners, but refers to the five largest importers of oil and gas by volume.
Democratic Congressman Gregory Meeks, who opposes giving Trump broader powers to levy tariffs, has moved an amendment to scrap Section 113 in full. That section would give the president authority to impose broad secondary tariffs on Russia’s trading partners. Meeks’ amendment has three co-sponsors.
Meeks has also moved another amendment to allow the president to waive sanctions on a foreign person for 90 days, with renewals for additional 90-day periods, if it is "vital to the national security of the US". Separately, he has proposed an amendment to authorise USD 15 billion in direct loans to Ukraine to finance the procurement of defence articles and services. The House Rules Committee made the amendments to the Russia sanctions act public on Monday.
With the House yet to pass the bill before it is sent to the president for signature, the latest amendments set up a debate over whether to name countries, including India, for possible tariffs, remove that power altogether, and add waiver provisions and direct loans for Ukraine.
