Washington, Oct 11 (IANS) US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Sunday rejected claims that the new Russia sanctions law named after the late Senator Lindsey Graham bars Washington from buying Russian diesel, a week before the same law’s deadline for tariffs that could hit India and other major buyers of Russian crude.
Bessent also accused Europe of hypocrisy for criticising the deal, saying Europeans had given Russia more money since the war began than they had given Ukraine.
“Well, first of all, we are going to do it with all the legal authorities we have,” Bessent told Fox News’ Fox and Friends Weekend when asked about objections in Congress.
“So, you know, anyone in Congress who says whether it’s an old bill or the current Lindsey Graham bill prohibits us from doing it is wrong,” he said.
“This is good for the American people,” he added, pointing to the aim of “bringing these diesel prices down”.
Turning to Europe, Bessent said European countries “cannot wean themselves off Russian energy”.
“They had a failed energy policy and Vladimir Putin, they continue to fund him. So for them to say that we cannot have a respite in diesel pricing is completely hypocritical,” he said.
Bessent did not say which legal authorities the administration was relying on, or how it would handle the law’s tariff provisions that fall due next week.
The Treasury Department posted the full interview on X.
President Donald Trump announced on Friday that Russia would initially supply more than 300,000 tonnes of diesel to American and global markets.
The Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 was signed into law on September 18.
Section 112 of the Act requires the President, within 30 days, to raise duties to “up to 500 per cent” on all goods imported into the United States from Russia, including “petroleum products”.
Section 113 requires duties of “up to 100 per cent” on all goods from countries that were among the five largest importers of Russian crude oil or natural gas in the 12 months before enactment and that knowingly make new purchases on or after the 30-day mark.
Both deadlines fall on October 18.
India has a direct stake in the outcome. It has been among the largest buyers of Russian crude since 2022, and Trump imposed an additional 25 per cent tariff on Indian goods in August 2025 over those purchases.
Bessent has previously put India at the centre of his criticism of Europe’s energy trade with Russia.
“The Russian oil goes into India, the refined products come out, and the Europeans buy the refined products. They are financing the war against themselves,” he told CNBC in January, after the European Union concluded a free trade agreement with India.
New Delhi has long argued that it is held to a different standard. The External Affairs Ministry said on August 4, 2025, that the United States “continues to import from Russia uranium hexafluoride for its nuclear industry, palladium for its EV industry, fertilisers as well as chemicals”.
The law allows the President to waive any duty after certifying to Congress that the waiver is in the US national interest. It also says nothing in it affects the Treasury Secretary’s authority “to extend or issue new general licenses”.
Section 113 counts only purchases of crude oil and natural gas, not refined products such as diesel, in deciding which countries face the tariffs.
–IANS
lkj/ksk/
