Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, co-author of a bill proposing secondary tariffs on buyers of Russian oil, welcomed the EU’s decision to lower the price cap for Russian oil from $60 to $47.60 per barrel, but urged a complete halt to purchases.
“This is a strong step in the right direction but the goal is to shut down oil and gas purchases from Russia until Putin gets to the peace table,” he wrote on X on Monday.
Graham cited former President Donald Trump’s July 14 statement that, unless Russia agrees to a ceasefire within 50 days, the U.S. is ready to impose tariffs of up to 100% on countries buying cheap Russian oil. The senator named China, India, and Brazil as the biggest violators.
Earlier Monday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC that Europe should follow Washington’s lead and impose secondary tariffs on buyers of Russian oil.
“Any country buying sanctioned Russian oil will, if tariffs are introduced, face secondary duties of up to 100%. (…) I would encourage our European partners (…) to follow our lead,” Bessent said.
He added that under Trump’s proposed policy of using tariffs to achieve political goals, the Senate is preparing a bill to impose 100% secondary tariffs on Russian oil buyers. The legislation has the support of 80–90 senators and could be enacted within 10, 30, or 50 days.
Meanwhile, the EU has yet to reach a unified position on the issue.
“We are moving forward with our Serbian and Russian partners to build a new oil pipeline between Hungary and Serbia. While Brussels bans Russian energy, cuts links, and blocks routes, we need more sources, more routes. Hungary will not be a victim of these catastrophic decisions,” Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó wrote on X on Monday.
