A bill introduced by U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham provides for tariffs of at least 100% on countries that continue to purchase Russian oil, making such purchases economically unprofitable.
Vladyslav Vlasiuk, the Ukrainian President’s Commissioner for Sanctions Policy, said this during a television broadcast.
“Senator Lindsey Graham has taken the right approach to the question: what enables Russia to wage this war? Oil revenues. How can it be deprived of these oil revenues? We already know one answer — kinetic sanctions. Another is to discourage buyers of Russian oil from purchasing it. At our meeting last year, he asked me who the largest buyers were. I told him: India and China. Turkey is in third place, but that is less significant. India and China buy 70–80% of the oil. And this bill effectively requires President Trump to impose a tariff of no less than 100% on buyers of Russian oil. If you continue to buy Russian oil, you face a U.S. tariff of 100% or more on exports of your products to the world’s largest market, the United States. Does it make mathematical sense to continue buying Russian oil? Most likely not,” the commissioner said.
Vlasiuk noted that the bill, which previously concerned Russia, has now been extended to Iran as well. According to him, it is now a comprehensive document that brings together all the sanctions measures that have been taken, including by the United States.
“They [the United States] say with regard to the defense industry that they see a problem with advanced global technologies — microelectronic components and equipment — reaching Russia and Iran. They also believe that secondary sanctions should automatically be imposed on all suppliers and manufacturers that help Russia and Iran produce their drones, missiles, and other weapons. There is also a section devoted to the shadow fleet. The bill essentially requires sanctions to be imposed or expanded against vessels, shipowners, operators, insurers, and captains,” he said.
The commissioner added that the bill also includes a package of financial sanctions.
“This is an area where we have worked extensively together on sanctions against Iran’s financial sector. Iran and the Russian Federation have become quite closely interconnected financially. This sector will also be targeted by Lindsey Graham’s bill,” Vlasiuk said.
