Trump signs Russia sanctions bill, opens door to new tariffs on oil buyers

President Donald Trump on Friday signed into law a Russia sanctions bill that now empowers him to impose tariffs on countries that purchase Russian petroleum products.

The new sanctions authority has been eagerly anticipated by Ukrainian officials hoping for a tangible sign of US support in its fight against a Russian invasion. The war, now in its fifth year, is in a critical phase of escalation.

The top five purchasers of Russian petroleum products — a list that includes China, India and US allies like Turkey — could be hit with broad new tariffs. Opponents of the bill argue it could open the door to tariffs on the entire European Union whose members also purchase Russian energy products.

The measure overcame fierce opposition from business lobbying groups including the US Chamber of Commerce and major retailers, over concerns Trump would leverage the legislation to expand tariffs.

The Kremlin on Thursday called congressional passage an “unfriendly” move and warned it could affect negotiations to end the war. “The introduction of some additional sanctions from the US will certainly complicate efforts to reach a peaceful settlement in Ukraine,” spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, according to the Interfax news service.

The legislation opened a rift in the Democratic party, pitting Ukraine’s most ardent supporters against those more focused on tariff-spiked inflation in the run-up to a November midterm election focused heavily on voter dissatisfaction with the US economy. The vast majority of House Democrats including the party leadership voted against the bill even though it was supported by Senate Democratic leaders. Ultimately, 58 Democrats voted for the measure, while seven Republicans opposed it.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is looking to secure a meeting with Trump on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly next week in New York, after a string of US official correspondence with Moscow has thrown into doubt whether the US will pressure Vladimir Putin to end the war — or keep up efforts to constrain Ukraine’s attacks on Russian energy facilities that the US has blamed for a global surge in diesel prices.

Denys Sienik, Ukraine’s Chargé D’Affaires, Tuesday night at an independence day celebration in Washington, thanked pro-Ukraine lawmakers “for every vote you cast in support of Ukraine, in support of freedom.”

Whether the administration will actually use the new powers to boost pressure on Iran or Russia remains unclear. The White House negotiated broad waivers in the law that give the president wide discretion not to impose penalties.

The law allows the president to impose a blanket tariff of 500 per cent on Russian goods imported to the US and an additional 100 per cent tariff on the top five energy importers and countries that import Russian crude oil or natural gas, or that facilitate sanctions evasion. The new tariff authority expires after five years.

The measure also extends the Iran Sanctions Act of 1996 through 2031, preventing a potential lapse in authority. That law imposes secondary economic sanctions on non-US companies doing business with Iran and was meant to expire this year.