Congress OKs Russia-Iran sanctions bill granting Trump power to impose up to 100% tariffs
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- The bill directs the president to impose tariffs "of up to 100 percent" on goods from any country that in the previous year was "among the 5 largest importers, by total volume, of crude oil or natural gas that originated in the Russian Federation" or "among the top 5 countries facilitating Russian oil sanctions evasion."
- The bill exempts any country that imported "less than 15 percent" of Russia's total natural gas exports and "has taken significant steps to reduce its imports of natural gas that originated in the Russian Federation."
- Reason's Eric Boehm argued the tariff policy would effectively raise taxes on Americans who buy goods made in countries like India or Belgium and criticized the lack of precise definitions in the bill.
- The article warns the bill's broad wording could be used by the president in other ways beyond targeting Russian energy importers.
- Through the end of August, China, India, and Turkey were the largest recipients of Russian crude oil, while the European Union received the most pipeline gas and liquefied natural gas, per the article's summary.
Senator Lindsey Graham has proposed legislation that would convert most existing sanctions on Russia into statute and vest President Donald Trump with sweeping new trade powers, including the ability to impose tariffs as high as 100 percent on major trading partners.
Theatlantic.com reports the measure — styled the Lindsey Graham Sanctioning Russia Act — names China, India, France, Japan, and Hungary as potential targets for such levies and would make the current sanctions framework statutory rather than solely executive.
Critics quoted by theatlantic.com warn the bill explicitly allows the president to waive sanctions and tariff limits by invoking the national interest, a provision they say could let a future administration escalate trade conflicts.
Theatlantic.com also ties the proposal to a February Supreme Court decision that narrowed presidential tariff authority, arguing Graham’s bill would restore or even expand White House discretion.
Supporters of tougher Russia measures see converting sanctions into law as a way to lock in pressure on Moscow; opponents warn that giving a president the power to both impose 100 percent tariffs and unilaterally waive sanctions concentrates economic coercion in the executive branch.
This proposal arrives amid ongoing debates over the balance between Congress and the presidency on trade and national-security powers; theatlantic.com frames the key controversy as whether statutory sanctions plus expansive waiver power would check or amplify executive discretion.
Lawmakers considering the bill will face a choice between enshrining sanctions in statute and preserving congressional oversight, or enabling a president to wield sweeping unilateral trade measures that critics say could destabilize relationships with named trading partners (per theatlantic.com).
Left- and right-leaning outlets are covering this story differently — in which facts to emphasize, which context to include, and how to frame causes and consequences.