New Delhi: India will “take proper note” of the new US law against Russia sanctions, and won’t respond to it immediately, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said. His comment follows the passage of a hard latest law by the US House of Representatives that will seeks to retaliate against countries that will purchase oil and gas from Russia.
The bill, called the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026, was passed by the House on September 17 with a vote of 262 to 159. It had been already cleared the Senate last month with the strong support from the both major US political parties. It will going to now require the President Donald Trump’s signature to make it law.
If signed, the law would give Trump the power to place tariffs of up to 100% on countries that buy large amounts of Russian oil or natural gas. India and China are the two world’s largest consumers of Russian oil and thus both of them will be closely followed under this law. Other countries such as Slovakia, Hungary and Azerbaijan might be affected as well.
Tariffs these are not automatically applied by the law, however. Trump would be able to decide what countries to use it on, and how much to use it at. Before there is any action, a US trade body would have to monitor the top five Russian energy consumers every six months.
That’s why it is prudent to say that Goyal is being cautious. The tariffs are not guaranteed and will be based on the President’s decision and India wants to read the fine print of the law before taking any action. In a previous interview Goyal has reiterated India’s right to purchase Russian oil, saying that some countries have exceptions and India does not when everyone is playing by the same rule on the international stage.
Moreover, India has expressed firm opposition to putting pressure on the country to rush into any trade deal with the United States either due to deadlines or because of sanctions. Goyal has stated that India sees trade agreements as partnerships in the long-term and made the point that it is not to settle on the spur of the moment.
For the time being, the energy import would proceed as usual and India will keep pushing for trade talks with the US, yet maintain its own watch on the operation of this new law.
