'Closely following': India on US bill seeking 100% tariffs on India, others
The Ministry of External Affairs said India is "closely following" a proposed US bill that seeks to impose tariffs of up to 100% on the largest purchasers of Russian crude oil and natural gas.
The legislation, titled the "Sanctioning Russia Act of 2026," has been introduced by a bipartisan group of more than 60 US Senators and refines an earlier draft that had proposed a blanket 500% tariff.
Under the revised bill, tariffs of up to 100% would apply to the top five purchasers of Russian crude oil (identified in reporting as China, India, Slovakia, Hungary and Azerbaijan) and the top five purchasers of Russian natural gas.
The bill provides an exception for countries importing less than 15% of Russia's natural gas exports that are taking demonstrable steps to reduce such imports.
The Ministry of External Affairs stated that India's energy imports are guided by its own sourcing strategy and energy security requirements, noting that India draws crude oil from multiple global suppliers.
Secondary Sanctions and Extraterritorial Tariffs
Secondary sanctions are restrictive measures imposed by a country (typically the US) not on the target state directly, but on third-party entities or countries that continue to transact with the sanctioned state. Unlike primary sanctions (which bind only the sanctioning country's own citizens and firms), secondary sanctions attempt to coerce compliance by outsiders through the threat of losing access to the sanctioning country's own market or financial system. A 100% tariff on oil-importing countries functions as a secondary sanction — it does not sanction Russia directly but penalizes buyers of Russian energy.
Key Details
- The US Congress, not the President, holds constitutional tariff authority under Article I of the US Constitution, though this has often been delegated to the executive (e.g., Section 232 and Section 301 tariff actions); a Senate-originated sanctions bill of this kind requires Congressional passage and presidential signature to become law.
- Secondary sanctions are distinct from UN Security Council sanctions, which are multilateral and binding on all member states; US secondary sanctions are unilateral and often contested by trade partners as extraterritorial overreach.
- India has previously faced similar sanctions exposure under the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), 2017 — notably over its 2018 S-400 missile defence deal with Russia, for which India received a case-by-case waiver in 2022.
The proposed 2026 bill mirrors the CAATSA precedent by using US market access (via tariffs) as leverage against third countries dealing with Russia, this time targeting energy trade rather than defence trade, directly implicating India's crude oil imports from Russia.
India's Crude Oil Import Diversification and Energy Security Strategy
India imports over 85% of its crude oil requirement, making energy security a core pillar of its foreign and economic policy. Following Western sanctions on Russian oil after 2022, India significantly increased purchases of discounted Russian crude, which grew from a negligible share to becoming India's single largest source of crude oil imports. The Ministry of External Affairs and Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas have consistently defended these purchases as guided purely by commercial considerations and energy security, not geopolitical alignment.
Key Details
- India's crude oil import bill and dependency make it highly sensitive to price volatility; diversified sourcing (Gulf, US, Africa, Russia) is official policy to hedge against supply-chain and price shocks.
- India has maintained a position of "strategic autonomy" on the Russia-Ukraine conflict, abstaining on most UN General Assembly and Security Council resolutions condemning Russia's invasion since February 2022.
- A 100% tariff on Indian exports to the US, if enacted, would be a major trade-policy shock, given the US is one of India's largest trading partners and export destinations.
The bill directly tests India's balancing act between its Western strategic partnerships (especially with the US) and its continued economic engagement with Russia, illustrating the practical costs of "multi-alignment" as a foreign policy doctrine.
- The "Sanctioning Russia Act of 2026" is backed by over 60 US Senators, a bipartisan supermajority-level coalition.
- The revised bill caps tariffs on the top five Russian crude oil purchasers at 100%, down from an earlier proposed blanket rate of 500%.
- Reported top five purchasers of Russian crude oil: China, India, Slovakia, Hungary, and Azerbaijan.
- Reported top five purchasers of Russian natural gas: China, France, Belgium, Japan, and Hungary.
- The bill carves out an exception for countries importing less than 15% of Russia's natural gas exports and actively reducing that share.