US senators have released a sanctions bill targeting Russia, lowering the proposed tariff to 100% from 500% in the previous version in an effort to secure broader congressional support, Reuters reported.
However, Democratic lawmakers have expressed concerns over tariff provisions in a bipartisan US sanctions bill targeting Russia, warning that the legislation could expand President Donald Trump’s authority to impose tariffs on countries importing Russian oil and natural gas.
The top buyers of Russian crude oil are China, India, Slovakia, Hungary, and Azerbaijan, while the leading importers of Russian natural gas are China, France, Japan, Hungary, and Belgium.
The bill includes exemptions for countries that import less than 15% of Russia’s natural gas exports and are taking significant steps to reduce their reliance on Russian supplies.
A document prepared by Democratic staff on the Senate Finance Committee raised concerns, arguing that the legislation’s broad criteria could allow additional countries to be targeted and give the president excessive discretion over tariff decisions, as Reuters reported.
“Additional countries can continually be brought into scope, and vague scoping criteria give Trump far too much opportunity to abuse these powers,” the document said.
According to Reuters, Gregory Meeks, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, praised sanctions in the bill on Russia’s shadow fleet and energy infrastructure, but expressed concerns about the tariffs. “This is not so much a sanctions bill as it is a massive backdoor authority for President Trump to impose more tariffs, including on our European allies, that hurt American families,” Meeks said.
