Russia Bill No Longer Includes 500% Tariffs on Purchasers of Russian Oil
A bipartisan bill to increase financial pressure on Russia to stop its aggression in Ukraine no longer gives the president the authority to hike tariffs on countries like Turkey, China and Hungary that purchase Russian oil and gas. The original approach was to give the president the ability to impose tariffs as high as 500% on those countries' exports; he has hiked tariffs on Indian goods by 25 percentage points over the issue.
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A bipartisan group of House members led by Foreign Affairs Committee ranking member Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., and Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., introduced a revised Russia sanctions bill Dec. 18 that they hammered out through a flurry of year-end negotiations. Meeks no longer wanted to advance the original Sanctioning Russia Act, because he said the tariffs allowed in it could be a "tax on the American people."
However, the bill does authorize a hike of duties on Russian imports of up to 500%.
The Peace Through Strength Against Russia Act would use "strong economic pressure" to spur Russia to end its invasion of Ukraine, a joint press release says. "Russia won't negotiate an end to its war unless real pressure is applied on the Kremlin to stop its brutality," Meeks said.
The sanctions in the bill could be terminated only if Russia signed a peace deal with Ukraine and ended “all military hostilities” against the country. A sanctions rollback would be subject to congressional review.
The bill's co-sponsors include Reps. Don Bacon, R-Neb.; Mike Turner, R-Ohio; Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y.; Mike Lawler, R-N.Y.; Steny Hoyer, D-Md.; Bill Keating, D-Mass.; and Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio. "With this new bipartisan bill, we are putting forward the most significant legislation introduced this Congress to place economic sanctions on Russia for its war crimes against Ukraine," Kaptur said.
With Congress having left town for the year, Meeks and Fitzpatrick said they hope to bring their new bill to the House floor in January. Fitzpatrick has also agreed to sign a discharge petition to force floor consideration of Meeks’ Ukraine Support Act, which would provide military and other assistance to Ukraine in addition to increasing sanctions and export controls on Russia (see 2507180003 and 2504150026).
It remains to be seen how the new bill will be received in the Senate. The original legislation, introduced in the upper chamber by Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., has enjoyed broad bipartisan support.