After being stuck for more than a year in legislative purgatory, the late U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham’s legislation mandating sweeping sanctions on Russia is one big step closer to becoming law. After being stuck for more than a year in legislative purgatory, the late U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham’s legislation mandating sweeping sanctions on Russia is one big step closer to becoming law. That means hefty import duties on countries that buy Russian oil and gas, a tool that Trump already used once against India (a big buyer of Russian oil) but not China (the biggest buyer of Russian oil). The bill would authorize tariffs of up to 100 percent on the top five importing countries of Russian oil and natural gas. Petroleum products are not even included, so big Russian customers such as Turkey would seem to be off the hook, while smaller buyers of Russian crude could face penalties.