The United States House of Representatives will soon begin voting on a bill that imposes new sanctions against Russia and countries that purchase its oil. This bill allows President Donald Trump to impose tariffs of up to 100 percent on countries that continue to buy Russian oil. In this bill, India is identified as one of the countries subject to these tariffs.
Details of the Sanctions Bill
This bill, known as the "Russia and Iran Sanctions Act," was passed by the Senate with a vote of 86 to 11 and is now under review in the House of Representatives. The House Rules Committee has presented this bill for consideration on the floor of the House.
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One amendment introduced by Democratic Representative Steny Hoyer specifically identifies 10 countries as those subject to maximum tariffs of 100 percent under the secondary tariff provisions of this bill. These countries include China, India, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Hungary, Slovakia, the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyz Republic.
Implications of the Proposed Amendments
This amendment does not itself impose a 100 percent tariff on India but specifically identifies India as a country that may be subject to these tariffs. In the version of the bill that passed the Senate, specific countries were not mentioned; instead, it referred to the five largest oil and gas importing countries.
The aim of this bill is to impose sanctions on Russian leadership and the energy sector of the country, giving the President of the United States the authority to impose tariffs of up to 100 percent on major buyers of Russian energy. At the same time, another amendment proposed by Democratic Representative Gregory Meeks and several of his colleagues seeks to remove a provision that grants the President broad powers regarding secondary tariffs.
The U.S. House of Representatives has only a limited number of working days before the early recess ahead of the midterm elections on November 3. As a result, the final provisions regarding India will depend on the amendments approved during the House process and subsequent legislative actions.
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