CAATSA
Precedent for US Secondary Sanctions Affecting India
The Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) is the earlier framework through which the US has used secondary sanctions to influence Indian defence and trade decisions, offering a template for how the current bill's threat may be managed.
- CAATSA was enacted in August 2017, authorising secondary sanctions on entities conducting "significant transactions" with Russia's defence and intelligence sectors, among other targets
- India's 2018 agreement to purchase the Russian S-400 Triumf air defence system placed it at potential risk of CAATSA sanctions, though the US did not formally sanction India, with waiver deliberations continuing across administrations
- CAATSA sanctions require presidential determination of a "significant transaction," giving the executive discretion in enforcement — a similar discretionary mechanism as the tariff provisions in the new bill
● Tracked since March 06, 2026 · last seen August 10, 2026 · updates as the daily brief publishes
See it in today’s brief.
Daily current affairs with every static concept explained in place.
Read the daily brief