September 21, 2026: The last time India's government set a hard deadline for reducing its Russian oil exposure, the market ignored it. In early 2026, Russian crude briefly fell to around a quarter of India's total imports as New Delhi bent to diplomatic pressure from Washington. By July, it had surged to a record 50.83 percent of India's oil imports — more than 2.47 million barrels per day — the highest share Russia has ever held in India's energy supply. The timing could not have been worse. This week, the law that transforms that dependency from a diplomatic irritant into a statutory liability was signed.

On September 16, 2026, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the sweeping bipartisan legislation by a vote of 262 to 159, sending the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 to President Donald Trump's desk. On September 18, Trump signed it into law, confirming the White House's statutory commitment to expanded sanctions, tariffs, and prohibitions targeting Russia.

The law gives the White House statutory authority to impose tariffs of up to 100 percent on the five largest importers of Russian petroleum or natural gas. That authority is discretionary — Trump is not obligated to pull the trigger. But it is now law, and it remains in force for five years unless Congress acts to end it. Every US-India negotiation for the next half-decade will be conducted in the shadow of a tariff ceiling that did not exist before this week.

What the Law Does
Named after the late Republican senator from South Carolina who championed it before dying suddenly at age 71 on July 11, 2026, the legislation goes considerably further than previous Russia sanctions packages. It expands restrictions on Russian officials, financial institutions, and the banking system, and specifically targets Moscow's "shadow fleet" — the clandestine network of roughly 1,200 to 1,600 tankers that Russia has built since 2022 to carry oil around Western restrictions.

What matters most for New Delhi is Section 113: the president's new tariff authority against the five largest buyers. Those buyers are currently China, India, Slovakia, Hungary, and Azerbaijan — with China and India together accounting for approximately 70 percent of Russia's total energy export revenue. The law also contains an exemption for countries importing less than 15 percent of Russian natural gas exports that have taken meaningful steps to reduce those purchases. India, given the scale of its dependency, qualifies for none of that protection

(Source: Tech Times)