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Informist, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026

--Trade official: Engaged with US on Russia sanction bill, talks reassuring 

--Trade official: US' Russia oil sanction bill a concern

NEW DELHI - The US Senate bill that seeks to impose tariffs of up to 100% on India is a concern and New Delhi is enagaged with Washington on this issue, a commerce ministry official said Thursday. "The talks with US have been reassuring. We are engaging with US regularly," the official said.

The US Senate Friday passed a bill that imposes tariffs of up to 100% on the five largest Russian energy importing countries, in a move likely aimed at hitting financing of Moscow's war on Ukraine. The legislation, which was introduced in the Senate in July, is called the 'Lindsey O Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026'.

India has close economic ties with Russia and the bill threatens steep tariffs on India's exports to the US, New Delhi's top export destination. 

India's exports to the US in Apr-Jul totalled $34.49 billion, slightly higher than a year ago. Imports from the US, on the other hand, rose to $22.12 billion from $18.07 billion last year. India and the US had total trade of $132.14 billion in FY26, with India exporting $86.51 billion in goods to the US and importing $45.63 billion from the world's largest economy.

The development comes at a time when India and the US remain engaged on securing a bilateral trade deal. Only last month, there was a fresh spanner in the wheel, with US imposing tariff on India under Section 301 investigations. 

In any case, negotiations on the trade pact have seen many ebbs and flows, with the two countries having major differences over opening up India's sensitive agricultural sector to Washington's genetically modified products. The Donald Trump administration's steep reciprocal tariffs and the Section 301 probe against India on the failure to effectively prohibit the import of goods manufactured using forced labour and now, the new Russia-linked bill, have added to the complexity of finalising a deal.

The two countries had on Feb. 7 issued a joint statement agreeing on a framework for an interim agreement for mutually beneficial trade but are yet to finalise the first phase of the trade agreement.  End

US$1 = INR 95.33

Reported by Pratiksha

Written by Priyasmita Dutta 

Edited by Avishek Dutta

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