U.S. House advances Russia sanctions Bill that seeks 100% tariffs on India, others; set for final vote
The US House Rules Committee advanced a procedural resolution (H. Res. 1530) clearing the path for floor consideration of the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 (H.R. 5334), by a 214-211 vote.
The bill authorises the US President to impose tariffs of up to 100% ad valorem on goods imported from countries ranked among the top five buyers of Russian-origin crude oil or natural gas, or among countries facilitating evasion of Russia-related sanctions.
An amendment moved in the House explicitly lists ten countries, including India, China, Turkiye, Azerbaijan, Hungary, the Slovak Republic, the UAE, Singapore, Kazakhstan and the Kyrgyz Republic, as within scope of the secondary-tariff provision, to prevent discretionary underuse of the power.
The bill had already cleared the US Senate. It is scheduled to come up for a final House floor vote shortly after the procedural motion passed.
India's crude oil sourcing pattern, which shifted heavily toward discounted Russian oil after 2022, is central to the bill's rationale for naming India among the affected countries.
CAATSA and the Precedent of Secondary Sanctions on India
The Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), 2017, already gives the US a template for secondary sanctions targeting third countries that transact with Russia. Section 231 of CAATSA mandates sanctions on entities engaging in "significant transactions" with Russia's defence or intelligence sectors, and it is the same category of "secondary sanctions" logic — penalising a third country's dealings with a sanctioned state — that underlies the new Russia sanctions bill's tariff provision.
Key Details
- CAATSA Section 231 was invoked against India for its 2018 purchase of the Russian S-400 Triumf air defence system (a $5.2 billion deal).
- India never received a formal, public CAATSA waiver; the US instead exercised "silent non-determination," declining to formally designate the S-400 deal as a sanctionable "significant transaction."
- The July 2022 US House amendment (introduced during NDAA floor consideration) urged a waiver for India on national-security grounds, citing India's role as a counterweight to China.
The new Russia sanctions bill escalates the same secondary-sanctions logic from a narrow defence-transaction trigger (CAATSA) to a broad, economy-wide tariff mechanism tied to energy trade, making India a named target for a second time in less than a decade.
Congressional Tariff Authority After the IEEPA Ruling
Unlike Trump's earlier "reciprocal tariffs," which were imposed unilaterally by executive order under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), the Russia sanctions bill's tariff power would come from an Act of Congress. This distinction became critical after the US Supreme Court, in a 6-3 ruling on 20 February 2026, held that IEEPA does not authorise the President to impose tariffs, striking down the "Liberation Day" tariffs and related measures.
Key Details
- The Supreme Court ruling (Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump) forced the administration to halt IEEPA-based tariff collection from 24 February 2026 and remanded the refund question to the Court of International Trade.
- Section 232 tariffs (national-security tariffs on specific goods, under the Trade Expansion Act, 1962) were unaffected by the ruling and remain in force.
- A tariff power written into a standalone Act of Congress, as in H.R. 5334, does not face the same separation-of-powers vulnerability that felled the IEEPA tariffs, since Congress holds the constitutional tariff/taxing power under Article I of the US Constitution.
The Russia sanctions bill's tariff mechanism is a direct legislative workaround for the executive tariff authority the Supreme Court just curtailed, explaining why this sanctions push is proceeding through Congress rather than by presidential proclamation.
India's Russian Crude Oil Dependence and the WTO MFN Principle
India's crude oil import basket shifted dramatically after 2022, with Russian-origin crude rising from a marginal share before the Ukraine conflict to becoming the single largest source in India's import mix through 2026, driven by price discounts. A tariff targeted at a specific country's energy-sourcing choices, as the Russia sanctions bill proposes, also sits in tension with the WTO's Most-Favoured-Nation (MFN) principle.
Key Details
- Under GATT Article I, WTO members must extend equal tariff treatment to "like products" from all other members; unilateral, country-specific tariff hikes outside a recognised WTO exception (such as GATT Article XXI's security exception or Article XX's general exceptions) depart from this norm.
- Russian oil's share of India's crude import bill has fluctuated sharply through 2026, reflecting both discount-driven purchasing and diplomatic recalibration in response to tariff pressure from Washington [Unverified: precise month-wise percentage].
- The Government of India's stated position is that energy purchases are guided by market factors and energy security requirements, not political alignment.
The bill's targeting of India specifically because of its Russian oil purchases illustrates how energy security policy and international trade law increasingly intersect, with countries citing national-security exceptions to justify departures from MFN-based, non-discriminatory tariff treatment.
- Procedural vote advancing the bill: 214-211 (House Rules Committee resolution, 15 September 2026)
- Bill: Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 (H.R. 5334)
- Maximum secondary tariff authorised: 100% ad valorem
- Trigger: being among the top five importers of Russian-origin crude oil/natural gas, or facilitating sanctions evasion
- Ten countries explicitly named in the House amendment: China, India, Turkiye, Azerbaijan, Hungary, Slovak Republic, UAE, Singapore, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic
- Supreme Court struck down IEEPA-based presidential tariffs: 20 February 2026 (6-3 ruling)
- CAATSA Section 231 secondary sanctions provision enacted: 2017