The challenge for India is no longer simply about managing tariffs, but balancing cheap Russian crude, energy costs and the broader India-US trade relationship

The US Congress has done what the courts undid. This week, the US House passed the Lindsey O Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 by 262-159, following the Senate’s 86-11 vote in August - sending to Donald Trump’s desk a law authorising tariffs of up to 100 per cent on the five largest buyers of Russian oil and gas. India tops that list, alongside China, Azerbaijan, Hungary and Slovakia. For New Delhi, a wound barely healed has been reopened.

This is not a repeat of 2025’s overreach. The Supreme Court struck down Trump’s IEEPA-based “reciprocal” tariffs in February, ruling that only Congress can levy duties - which is precisely why this........

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