A long-delayed U.S. sanctions bill aimed at reducing the revenue that finances Russia’s war in Ukraine is at risk because its most forceful instrument is also its most divisive. The Senate measure, championed for more than a year by the late Senator Lindsey Graham, combines sanctions on Russian officials with authority for President Donald Trump to impose sweeping secondary tariffs on third countries.
The legislation would authorize tariffs of 100% on the five largest importers of Russian crude oil or gas and on the five leading countries the administration identifies as helping Moscow evade U.S. sanctions. The text does not name them, but China and India would probably be exposed, along with potentially some European countries and Japan. The duties could apply broadly to goods from a targeted country, not merely to its Russian-energy transactions.
The tariff power gained importance after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Trump’s earlier 10% to 50% reciprocal tariffs in February. The administration has since sought new statutory authorities. The bill would also permit the president to waive the Russia sanctions for unspecified national-security reasons, a discretion that pro-Ukraine Democrats view warily because Trump’s position toward Moscow and Kyiv has shifted.
Trump’s support came with another expansion: the measure would extend for five years U.S. sanctions on Iran’s energy and weapons sectors, originally enacted in 1996 and due to expire this year. He subsequently demanded that Iran tariffs also be added, even though direct U.S.-Iranian trade is minimal. Combining Russia, Iran and trade authority has widened the coalition needed for passage but also multiplied the bill’s potential points of failure.
The Senate advanced the legislation in strongly bipartisan procedural votes, and supporters presented the renamed measure as a tribute to Graham, who died in July. A final Senate vote could occur before senators leave Washington. The harder stage is the House of Representatives, which remains in recess until August 31 and where senior Democrats and some tariff-skeptical Republicans have already signaled opposition.
Senator Ron Wyden and Representative Richard Neal, the top Democrats on the congressional trade committees, support stronger action against buyers of Russian energy but argue that the draft could produce higher tariffs and U.S. inflation. Republican unease also persists. Senator Rand Paul, the only Republican to oppose the first procedural vote, plans an amendment limiting the tariff authority, while other members have sought exemptions for specific imports.
The external risk is that secondary tariffs could penalize countries already cooperating with Washington. More than 40 nations joined the sanctions coalition after Russia’s full-scale invasion, yet some also import Russian energy or could be judged to facilitate evasion. A five-year sunset limits the authority on paper, but critics warn that presidents rarely relinquish powers and that across-the-board duties could disrupt entire bilateral relationships and multilateral coordination.
Ukraine’s ambassador to Washington, Olha Stefanishyna, has urged action before winter and warned that the tariff dispute should not displace the bill’s purpose. That urgency now confronts election timing, House resistance and proposed amendments. The Senate’s bipartisan votes show that punishing Russian revenue has broad support; whether Congress can separate that objective from an open-ended presidential tariff instrument will determine if the measure becomes law.
