To pressure Russia, US senators have introduced a revised sanctions bill imposing a 100 percent tariff on the top five importers of Moscow’s oil and gas. The bill, which has President Donald Trump’s backing, is aimed mainly at China and India. Brought under the leadership of the late Republican senator Lindsey Graham, it has been revised to cut the maximum tariff from the earlier 500 percent to 100 percent — a large reduction from the original bill. Countries that import less than 15 percent of Russia’s total gas exports have been exempted, so European countries are expected to benefit, on the argument that the gas they buy from Russia is very small relative to their total demand and that they are already reducing dependence on Moscow.
Lawmakers said the bill also proposes sanctions on Russia’s defence, energy and financial sectors and on the “shadow fleet” of old ships used to evade international sanctions. Connecticut Democratic senator Richard Blumenthal, who worked with the late Senator Graham on drafting the bill and visited Ukraine with him several times, said: “It took us very hard work and, in some cases, painful discussions and debate to produce this. But it comes at a very important moment. Ukraine is now at a turning point. They are turning the situation on the battlefield in their favour.” Last year Russia’s top five natural-gas importers were China, France, Japan, Hungary and Belgium, though all but China would be exempt under the below-15-percent threshold; the top five buyers of Russian crude were China, India, Slovakia, Hungary and Azerbaijan.
The US has previously tried to penalise China and India separately over buying Russian energy; Washington imposed an extra 25 percent tariff on India last year for buying Russian oil before withdrawing it, and a US Treasury waiver allowing India to buy Russian crude while avoiding US sanctions expired on 17 June, complicating India’s current oil imports. Blumenthal said the US Trade Representative’s office would set the final tariff rate, based on discouraging other countries from buying Russian oil. The bill’s passage gained momentum after Senator Lindsey Graham died suddenly at 71 last Saturday; Graham had been its main driving force, and many senators from both parties now want to pass it in tribute to him. During his last Ukraine visit before his death, Graham had announced reaching an understanding with President Trump on advancing the bill. Asked about it, Trump said, “There is a strong chance the bill will pass,” adding that it would be done in Graham’s honour: “It is being done in Lindsey’s honour. It was his dream project. He wanted it more than anything else. You know how he felt about it. So there is a good chance the bill will pass.” Senate officials said 26 senators from both parties had already signed on as co-sponsors and expected many more within hours. One official, expressing strong hope, said: “We are quite confident about the path to passage.” A group of senators from both parties and the White House negotiated over the sanctions bill for more than a year, considering several tougher proposals, including a direct 500 percent tariff on imports from countries buying Russian oil, gas, uranium and other goods.
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