Historic trade deal with Britain comes into effect

On Tuesday, US senators unveiled an amended version of the Russia sanctions bill that would impose 100% tariffs on five countries, including India, for purchasing Russian oil.

This version reduces the previous threat of proposed tariffs by 500%.

The bill, backed by Republicans, Democrats and the White House, calls for sanctions on Russian officials and pressure on countries like India and China to reduce their dependence on Russian energy.

If passed, the bill would impose tariffs on major buyers of Russian oil.

The top five Russian energy buyers are India, China, Slovakia, Hungary and Azerbaijan.

India’s Russian oil imports have long been a point of contention with the US.

In 2025, the US President imposed an additional 25% tariff on India for purchasing Russian crude oil, causing significant strain on diplomatic relations between New Delhi and Washington.

India has since diversified its oil imports to Venezuela, but has also said that India’s policy on Russian oil is based on “cost and availability”.

In June, India’s Foreign Minister Subramaniam Jaishankar rejected criticism from Western countries at an event in Helsinki. Jaishankar accused the United States of hypocrisy over Russian oil, saying that “the US specifically asked India to buy Russian oil to help stabilize world markets.”

He said, “Last year, after imposing tariffs on us for the first time for buying Russian oil, the United States lifted the embargo on Russian oil. Let’s not pretend there’s any great principle involved in this.”

The proposed US bill comes at a time when India and the US are negotiating the first tranche of a bilateral trade agreement.

Experts and reports say one reason for the delay in the deal is that New Delhi wants assurances from Washington that it will not impose any new tariffs.