If the opportunity arises, US President Donald Trump won’t shy away from imposing tariffs of up to 500% on imports from countries that engage in trade with Russia, as per a Bloomberg report. This hefty imposition may be greenlit if a bill floated by Republicans is passed.
Having long described himself as a global “peacemaker,” Trump recently opened up about a potential bill that could ramp up sanctions on any country that continues to position itself as Russia’s energy customer.
So far, the US president has tussled in a much-stretched-out tussle with India, having hit the South Asian country with a total of 50% tariffs due to its purchase of Russian oil. China remains the largest buyer of crude oil from Vladimir Putin’s country, with even the Centre of Research on Energy and Clean Air’s (CREA) monthly analysis of exports and sanctions showing the country at the top of the table in October 2025. However, Trump hasn’t imposed any additional/punitive tariffs of the sort on China yet.
Trump on Republican bill sanctioning Russia trade partners
“They’re passing legislation, the Republicans are, putting in legislation that – very tough, sanctioning et cetera, et cetera – on any country doing business with Russia. They may add Iran to that, as you know, I suggested it,” he told reporters on Sunday.
“So any country that does business with Russia will be very severely sanctioned,” he added, when asked if the US government was planning any new measures to exert additional pressure on Russia and its President Vladimir Putin over the Ukraine crisis. With China and India as the undoubted prime targets here, the POTUS also said, “We may add Iran to that.”
Despite Trump’s big declaration the Senate-proposed legislation would be “okay with me,” he didn’t lay out a formal schedule as to when the bill would become law. The lack of a formal target date in his statements echoed Senate Majority Leader John Thune’s claims in October how he didn’t “want to commit to a hard deadline.”
The legislation that seeks to staggering tariffs on countries doing business with Russia has long been championed by Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. Back in July, he issued an astounding warning to both India, China and Brazil while synonymously associating Russian oil import to “blood money.”
“Here’s what I would tell China, India and Brazil: If you keep buying cheap Russian oil to allow this war to continue, we’re going to tear up the hell out of you, and we’re going to crush your economy,” Graham told Fox News.
Name-dropping the Russian president, he went on, “He’s (Putin) not going to stop until somebody makes him stop. You’re buying cheap Russian oil at the expense of the world, and President Trump is tired of this game.”
Biggest buyers of Russian fossil fuels: Dec 2022-Oct 2025 CREA data
Coal: China (42%), India (20%), Turkey (11%%), South Korean (10%), Taiwan (4%)
Crude Oil: China (47%), India (38%), Turkey (6%), EU (6%)
LNG: EU (49%), China (22%), Japan (18%)
Oil products: Turkey (26%), China (12%), Brazil (11%), Singapore (8%)
Pipeline gas: EU (34%), China (30%), Turkey (29%)
This is a developing story.