India faces mounting pressure as a US Senate proposal for up to 100% tariffs on Russian energy buys threatens to complicate ongoing trade negotiations, highlighting the increasing reliance on Russian crude amid geopolitical tensions.
India’s trade talks with the United States have entered another uncertain phase after a bipartisan US Senate bill advanced a proposal that would allow tariffs of up to 100% on countries buying Russian energy. For New Delhi, the measure adds fresh pressure to already delicate negotiations, but officials are still signalling that talks with Washington are continuing and that both sides want a deal rather than a break.
The concern is especially acute because India has become far more reliant on Russian crude in recent months. Data cited by the Global Trade Research Initiative suggest Russian oil made up about 52% of India’s crude imports in July, up from 48.6% in June, while the value of those imports rose to $8.91 billion from $4.84 billion a year earlier. Financial Express, citing shipment data, reported an even larger share, with Russian oil purchases reaching 2.78 million barrels a day in July.
The proposed penalty is not yet law. According to reports from Business Standard and LiveMint, the revised Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 would give the US president authority to impose the duties, while also leaving room for a waiver if the White House judged that suspension was in America’s national interest. The bill is aimed at the biggest buyers of Russian energy, including India and China, and is part of a wider effort in Washington to choke off revenue to Moscow over the war in Ukraine.
Indian officials are trying to keep the trade channel open despite the new threat. Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal said India and the US remain in regular contact and are working from the understanding reached in February, even as the broader framework is being revisited. He said the aim of any eventual agreement should be predictability for businesses, and declined to comment directly on the Russian oil legislation, describing it as an internal US legislative process. The issue comes on top of existing tariff frictions and a separate Section 301 investigation into India’s manufacturing policies, making the broader trade relationship more complicated than before.
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