The Congress on Wednesday asked Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal to clarify the Centre’s position after a bipartisan group of United States senators introduced a bill proposing 100% tariffs on imports from India and four other countries for purchasing Russian oil.

Apart from India, the proposed legislation would apply to China, Slovakia, Hungary and Azerbaijan, PTI reported.

It exempts 15 European countries that continue to purchase Russian gas, with the legislators arguing that those imports make up only a small share of their energy needs. They also said that the countries were reducing their dependence on Moscow.

On Wednesday, Congress leader Pawan Khera said that Goyal, who had earlier dismissed reports that India was holding out for a better trade deal with the US, should “clarify this”.

Khera highlighted that the proposal came from Republican senators backed by US President Donald Trump rather than House Democrats.

“Imagine the humiliation: needing Trump’s approval to buy Russian oil, and now being threatened with punitive tariffs for doing exactly that,” added the Congress leader

If passed, the bill would mark the first time the US Congress has explicitly authorised the use of tariffs as a geopolitical tool to penalise countries accused of helping finance another country’s war effort through energy purchases, PTI reported.

Indian goods had been facing a combined US tariff rate of 50%, including a punitive levy of 25% imposed in August for buying Russian oil.

The US had repeatedly alleged that India’s purchases of Russian oil helped fuel the war in Ukraine, while New Delhi had maintained that its oil purchases were aimed at ensuring its own energy security.

On February 7, Trump issued an executive order to remove the additional 25% punitive tariff on imports from India. This brought the effective US tariff rate on Indian imports to 18% after the interim trade deal was agreed to.

Edited by Sneha.