The US Russia sanctions bill has been revised to scale back its most punishing provisions, narrowing the scope of penalties aimed at countries that continue purchasing Russian oil, even as the White House formally throws its support behind the legislation. The updated version of the bill, known as the Sanctioning Russia Act, caps presidential tariff authority at 100 per cent, a significant reduction from the 500 per cent duty envisaged in the original draft, while still leaving China and India as its principal targets.
From A Blunt Instrument To A Calibrated Threat
When Senators Lindsey Graham and Richard Blumenthal first introduced the legislation, it proposed handing the president sweeping authority to impose tariffs of up to 500 per cent on any country found to be purchasing Russian oil, gas, petroleum products or uranium in significant volumes. That figure, described by its backers as an economic bunker buster, was intended to choke off the revenue funding Moscow’s war effort by making it prohibitively expensive for major buyers to keep trading with Russia.
Months of negotiation between the bill’s sponsors and the Trump administration, however, produced a markedly different mechanism. Under the revised text, the president is granted discretion to set a tariff rate above zero but no higher than 100 per cent on countries facilitating sanctions evasion or buying substantial quantities of Russian energy.
Senator Jeanne Shaheen has said the final draft dramatically limits the number of countries that would actually fall within the bill’s scope, while analysts have noted that the updated version also makes sanctions on Russia itself mandatory, rather than conditional on Moscow’s refusal to negotiate peace with Ukraine as the original text had specified.
US Russia Sanctions Bill – China And India Remain The Central Targets
Despite the softened tariff ceiling, the legislation continues to be aimed squarely at the two largest buyers of Russian energy. Senators have offered varying estimates of the scale involved, with Blumenthal placing China and India’s combined share of Russia’s energy exports at around 90 per cent, while Graham has previously cited a figure closer to 70 per cent for oil, gas and other petroleum products. Whatever the precise proportion, both countries would be squarely within reach of any tariffs on China and India ultimately imposed under the bill.
India’s position has grown more complicated in recent months. Indian refiners had already scaled back their imports of Russian crude substantially over the course of the US India bilateral trade negotiations, from close to 1.84 million barrels a day in November 2025 to roughly 1.04 million barrels a day by February 2026, according to data cited in earlier reporting.
A temporary US Treasury general license that had permitted Indian purchases of Russian crude without triggering sanctions expired on 17 June 2026, leaving New Delhi’s current purchasing position in a state of legal uncertainty. India has not issued a public response to the latest developments and has consistently maintained that its energy purchasing decisions are guided by national economic interest rather than political considerations.
China, for its part, has continued to absorb a growing share of Russian crude, having overtaken Saudi Arabia as Russia’s top supplier earlier in the year according to industry data. Beijing has not commented publicly on the White House’s endorsement of the revised bill.
Political Momentum After Graham’s Death
The renewed push to advance the Sanctioning Russia Act has taken on added significance following the sudden death of Senator Graham over the weekend. Tributes from colleagues on both sides of the aisle dominated proceedings in the Senate, with several lawmakers arguing that passing the legislation swiftly would serve as a fitting memorial to Graham’s final major legislative effort.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer urged Majority Leader John Thune to bring the bill to the floor without delay, while Blumenthal has said he intends to work with Thune to identify a new Republican co-lead for the legislation.
Thune has indicated he hopes to see the bill reach the floor before the Senate’s August recess but has stopped short of committing to a firm timetable, saying the chamber will follow the administration’s lead on timing. Not all Republicans are supportive.
Senator Rand Paul has signalled he will attempt to slow the bill’s progress, arguing that steep tariffs tied to Russian oil purchases risk causing broader disruption to global trade and unintended economic consequences, pointing to recent volatility in energy markets following tensions in the Middle East.
What Happens Next
President Trump has yet to confirm definitively whether he will sign the legislation once it clears Congress, telling reporters this week only that a decision would come soon. With a companion measure having already passed the House of Representatives, aides say the revised Senate text could be aligned with that bill and sent directly to the president’s desk once approved, potentially accelerating the process considerably. For now, the scaled back tariff ceiling appears designed to preserve the threat of serious economic consequences for Beijing and New Delhi while giving the White House room to use the powers as a negotiating lever rather than an automatic trigger.
Published in SouthAsianDesk, July 15, 2026
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