US trade deal could shield India from 100% tariff under Russian sanctions law: Sources
Sources close to the negotiations said a US-India trade deal could protect India from the full 100 per cent tariff authorised under the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 and from potential action in the ongoing Section 301 investigation on excess capacity. A source said the legislation authorises the US President to impose the tariff but does not enforce it, and that any negotiated trade deal would cap the amount mentioned in the bill. The same source said the Graham legislation would not supersede a trade deal, and that every week without a deal may leave India more vulnerable to other pending US trade actions.
Why it matters: The reported linkage between the Graham Act's tariff authority, the Section 301 case and a pending bilateral agreement places the negotiation within the briefing's trade-policy theme, where tariff exposure and market access are settled through deal-making rather than legislation alone.