US Senate Passes Russia Sanctions Bill Authorizing Tariffs of Up to 100 Percent on Buyers of Russian Oil

The United States Senate approved the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 by 86 votes to 11. The bill sanctions Russian officials and authorizes the president to impose tariffs of up to 100 percent on goods from the largest purchasers of Russian crude oil and natural gas, a group that includes China and India. Al Jazeera described the vote as the strongest measure against Moscow taken during Donald Trump's second term.

The legislation is bipartisan and also tightens Iran sanctions. Its stated purpose is to reduce the revenue Russia earns from energy exports by making the purchase of that energy expensive for third countries, RFE/RL reported. The House of Representatives is in recess until September, so the bill cannot become law before then, and the tariff authority it creates is permissive rather than automatic. The president would decide whether to use it.

That design matters for how the measure should be understood. It converts a sanctions question into a trade question and places the cost on importers in Asia rather than on Russian exporters directly. New Delhi and Beijing have both argued that their purchases of Russian crude are lawful commercial decisions and have rejected the premise that a third country can penalize them for it. Neither has changed its position in response to the vote.