Russia Secondary Tariffs Bill Would ‘Pass Today’ If Voted On, Lawmaker Says
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., speaking at the NATO Public Forum in the Netherlands, said she believes Congress is ready to approve a bill that would impose a wide range of sanctions on Russia and its supporters if Moscow refuses to reach a peace deal with Ukraine, including a 500% tariff on imported goods from countries that buy Russian oil, gas, uranium and other products (see 2504020003).
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The bill has 82 co-sponsors, and “there's almost nothing in the United States Senate that gets 82 sponsors,” Shaheen said. “So that is an indication of just how strong the support is. And I think if the leadership would take it up today, it would pass today.”
Shaheen, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said congressional leadership hasn’t yet scheduled a vote because lawmakers are waiting for word from the Trump administration. She said the bill would impose “draconian secondary sanctions on countries that help Russia,” and she urged Trump to “encourage the leadership in the Senate and House to pass the legislation.”
“I think we want to see a nod from the White House,” she said. “I hope that President Trump will understand that this is a benefit to him. It gives him more leverage in trying to get Russia to the negotiating table. And if others don't like it, he can blame Congress.”
Several EU government officials during the forum also mentioned the bill, including Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs Caspar Veldkamp, who called it a “very strong sanctions package.”
“I hope the U.S. will ramp up this pressure,” he said. “They really, I believe, need to move forward hand-in-hand with the European Union and increase the pressure on Russia to really come to the [negotiating] table.”
Frederick Kempe, president of the Atlantic Council, said lawmakers are “just waiting for the president to say, ‘yes, please go ahead with this.’”
Kempe added that Donald Trump -- who has been hesitant to impose new sanctions on Russia as his administration tries to broker a peace deal between Moscow and Ukraine (see 2506110046) -- may be more willing to finally pressure Russia based on the recent “lesson” he learned from helping Iran and Israel reach a ceasefire, which is to be “decisive about peace.”
Trump has “set peace limits for [Vladimir] Putin, and Putin's just been ignoring him,” Kempe said. “Now may be the moment for him to say, look, President Putin, if you're not willing to come to the peace table,” then “perhaps we're going to have to do a little bit more to ensure that Ukraine gets what it needs and that we're sending the right message.”