US Senate Passes Russia Sanctions Bill Named for Late Senator Graham, India Among Countries That Could Face Tariffs

The US Senate passed sweeping Russia sanctions legislation Friday by an 86-11 vote, sending to the House a bill that would give the Trump administration authority to impose tariffs of up to 100 percent on the countries that buy the most Russian oil and gas, a group that currently includes India and China.

Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, spent more than a year building support for a Russia sanctions bill before he died on July 11. Lawmakers introduced the measure in the Senate on July 16 as the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia Act of 2026, naming it in his honor, and later renamed it the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 after Iran-related sanctions provisions were added. Lawmakers from both parties pushed to finish the bill in the weeks that followed, in what several described as an effort to honor his record as one of Congress's most vocal supporters of Ukraine.

The tariff provision applies to countries that rank among the top five importers of Russian crude oil, the top five importers of Russian natural gas, or the top five countries identified as facilitating Russian sanctions evasion, with each category tracked separately. On the crude oil list, India currently appears alongside China, Slovakia, Hungary and Azerbaijan; the natural gas list is calculated separately and may include different countries. The bill exempts countries that buy less than 15 percent of their natural gas from Russia and are actively reducing that share. The exact tariff rate, up to the 100 percent cap, would be determined by the administration, with the U.S. Trade Representative playing a key role in setting the level.

India has not been hit with any new tariff as a result of Friday's vote. The Senate has only passed its version of the bill; the legislation still needs to clear the House and be signed into law before any tariff authority could take effect.

The measure started out far more aggressive. An earlier version, introduced in the Senate in 2025 as S.1241, would have set a minimum 500 percent tariff on countries purchasing Russian-origin oil, uranium and petroleum products, with fewer exemptions. Congressional sponsors and the administration negotiated that figure down to the current 100 percent ceiling over more than a year of talks.

Beyond the tariff authority, the bill would impose sanctions on Russian officials and other Russian entities, along with Russian oligarchs, state-owned enterprises and foreign firms that support Russia's defense industry. It would also extend the Iran Sanctions Act of 1996 to 2031, continuing penalties on companies that invest in Iran's energy sector.

Senator Richard Blumenthal, the Connecticut Democrat who worked with Graham on the bill, said after the vote that both Ukraine's president and Putin were watching the outcome. The Ukrainian embassy in Washington called the vote a timely, significant step that raises pressure on Russia. Not all the reaction was favorable. Democratic Representatives Gregory Meeks and Don Beyer said the bill hands the president "sweeping new tariff authorities" they warned he could use without restraint. Some lawmakers and industry groups have separately cautioned that the expanded tariff powers could raise costs for U.S. businesses and consumers.

India has become one of the world's largest buyers of discounted Russian crude since Western sanctions reshaped global energy markets after Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Indian officials have long defended the purchases as a matter of energy security, even as Washington argues that the revenue helps sustain Moscow's war effort.

The House is not scheduled to reconvene until August 31, and its Republican leadership has not said when, or whether, it will bring the bill to a vote.