Graham: Russian Sanctions, Secondary Tariffs Bill to Get Vote
Congress will move toward a vote on a bill that gives the president the authority to hike tariffs on goods from countries that buy Russian energy, and directs him to prohibit banking transactions and foreign exchange transactions for Russian companies doing business with companies or banks in other countries.
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It also directs him to apply individual sanctions -- including seizing U.S. assets -- of any foreigner who "knowingly sells, supplies, transfers, markets, or provides defense articles, equipment, goods, services, technology, or materials to the Armed Forces."
South Carolina's Sen. Lindsey Graham, the lead Republican on the Senate version of the bill, tweeted about the bill's momentum after President Donald Trump told reporters in Florida Nov. 16 that he is "OK with" the bill.
"I am very pleased that with President Trump’s blessing, Congress will be moving on the overwhelmingly bipartisan Russia sanctions bill that will provide President Trump with more tools to end the bloodbath in Ukraine," he wrote.
He emphasized that 500% tariffs on buyers of Russian oil, gas or uranium are not required -- they're at the president's discretion. Trump hiked tariffs by 25 percentage points on India over its Russian oil purchases, but has said he will not further hike tariffs on China over the issue. He has also suggested that Hungary should be spared. Turkey faces reciprocal tariffs of 15%, and more than half its imported oil is from Russia. Trump has not talked about Turkey and Russian oil.
According to the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, China, India, the EU and Turkey are the top buyers of Russian crude; the EU, China and Turkey are the top buyers of natural gas via pipelines; the EU, China, Japan and Turkey are the top buyers of Russian LNG; and Turkey, China, Brazil, India, Singapore and Saudi Arabia are the top buyers of Russian oil products.
"This legislation is designed to give President Trump more flexibility and power to push Putin to the peace table by going after both Putin and countries like Iran that support him. I appreciate the strong bipartisan support for this legislation in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. President Trump’s executive sanctions on the top two Russian oil companies have made a big difference," Graham wrote. "The Russia sanctions bill will continue the momentum to end this war honorably, justly and once and for all."