Massive tariff hike ahead? US duties on India, China could jump 500% next week. Here's why

US tariffs on India and China are likely to go up by 500 per cent as early as next week. US Senator Lindsey Graham said on Thursday that President Donald Trump has greenlit a bill to "punish" countries like India, China, and Brazil for continued purchases of Russian oil despite sanctions.

He said that Trump cleared the legislation, dubbed the Russia Sanctions Bill, after a "productive" meeting on Wednesday and that it could be put to a vote next week. Lindsey Graham further claimed that the bill would be "well-timed". 

The bill has been sponsored by Graham and Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal. 

"After a very productive meeting today with President Trump on a variety of issues, he greenlit the bipartisan Russia sanctions bill that I have been working on for months with Senator Blumenthal and many others. This will be well-timed, as Ukraine is making concessions for peace and Putin is all talk, continuing to kill the innocent," Graham wrote on X. 

Echoing Trump advisor Peter Navarro, he said that the bill would allow the President to punish the countries "who buy cheap Russian oil fuelling Putin's war machine". 

"This bill would give President Trump tremendous leverage against countries like China, India and Brazil to incentivize them to stop buying the cheap Russian oil that provides the financing for Putin's bloodbath against Ukraine. I look forward to a strong bipartisan vote, hopefully as early as next week." 

Read full post by Lindsey Graham here

At present, the Senate and House leaders have postponed a vote on the legislation. If passed, the legislation would also ban US exports of energy products to Moscow and investments in Russian energy. 

In 2025, Trump imposed a 25 per cent reciprocal tariff on Indian imports, coupled with an additional 25 per cent penalty for Russian oil purchases, taking the total tariffs to 50 per cent. The move by Trump has proven to be detrimental for US-India ties, putting the trade deal between the two countries on hold. 

China-US ties also went downhill after Trump imposed a humongous duty of 145 per cent on Chinese goods, with Beijing imposing a 125 per cent tariff on US products in a tit-for-tat move.