The president has recently pushed to impose tariffs on Moscow’s trading partners
The US Congress cannot push through secondary sanctions on Russian trading partners without the backing of President Donald Trump, House Speaker Mike Johnson told CBS on Sunday.
Hawkish Senator Lindsey Graham, who has long unsuccessfully lobbied to slap 500% tariffs on countries that trade with Russia, has moved to attach his proposed legislation to an upcoming stopgap bill, Politico reported on Saturday.
In an interview aired on CBS News’ Face the Nation, Johnson was asked whether lawmakers in Congress would support Graham’s sanctions legislation without presidential approval.
“Congress really can’t do this on its own volition because, of course, the President would need to sign whatever we do into law,” he said, adding: “It has to be a partnership, but we defer to the commander-in-chief.”
Trump has increasingly pushed for tariffs on countries that buy Russian oil after expressing frustration with the pace of peace talks between Moscow and Kiev. Russia has maintained that it wants a long-term and sustainable peace in the Ukraine conflict, and has accused Kiev and its European NATO allies of working to undermine the peace process.
On Saturday, the US president called for all NATO states to stop buying crude from Russia and proposed 50-100% tariffs on China to pressure Moscow. Trump has also pushed for EU nations to impose up to 100% tariffs on China and India, according to the Financial Times.
Beijing has positioned itself as neutral on the Ukraine conflict since its escalation in 2022.
Last month, Trump imposed 50% US tariffs on India. New Delhi has thus far refused to cut purchases of Russian oil, insisting the imports were a matter of national energy security and India’s own sovereign business.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned the West against attempting to “punish” China and India and taking a “colonial” tone with the two countries. “Talking to such partners in such a tone of voice is unacceptable,” he said in Beijing last week.
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