00:00All eyes now on the big breaking news at the moment because the key Russian oil-linked bill
00:06is now going to be within the next 24 hours, possibly passed by the U.S. Congress.
00:12The bill proposes up to 100% tariff on countries buying Russian oil.
00:18This bill will come up for vote in the U.S. House of Representatives.
00:22India could also be among the countries that is facing a 100% tariff.
00:27Remember, the bill was passed by the U.S. Senate on August 8th.
00:30It's now being fast-forwarded to the House of Representatives.
00:34So come tomorrow, tariffs could be potentially raised by 100% for Indian goods.
00:40Joining me now from Washington, D.C. is Rohit Sharma, who's tracking that.
00:45Rohit, is it more than likely that within the next 24 hours, the U.S. House of Representatives will pass
00:51this bill?
00:52Effectively meaning the U.S. Congress is approving 100% tariffs on countries like India buying Russian oil?
01:00Well, rather, yes, the bill is scheduled to be voted today, after 345 time Eastern, in Washington, D.C. today.
01:08It will obviously go through another prop procedural vote before that.
01:11And then, if the House decides to vote on it and gets it approved, it then heads to President Trump's
01:18desk for becoming a law.
01:19So, yes, potentially, you know, President Donald Trump will have a tool at his disposal to sanction or rather to
01:26put tariffs on countries that are buying oil from Russia.
01:29But it does not automatically put that on any country.
01:33Rajdeep, key differentiator is it depends on the president if he wants to do it and which countries he wants
01:40to impose those tariffs on.
01:41But it will be a law if President Trump signs it and any other president, even after President Trump leaves
01:47the office in 29, could potentially use this.
01:49So, a very interesting development as far as this Russia sanctioned bill has come.
01:54And to give you a little more background on this, Rajdeep, you know, this was initially started, you know, as
01:59a tool to threaten Russia when Lindsey Graham was alive.
02:02And he started off with 500 percent tariffs.
02:04And the Senate, as you said, in August passed this bill as a kind of a tribute to Lindsey Graham
02:13for being that, you know, Russia hawk for forever.
02:16But then, as we've seen, you know, it surprised a lot of people within the U.S. Congress.
02:20It's been fast-tracked.
02:21And some people say it's also because the Chinese president is going to be here in the U.S. next
02:26week.
02:26And it's also a kind of, you know, a signal to him that Russia, rather, should come to the table
02:32and start negotiating.
02:33Right.
02:37But clearly, weaponization of tariffs going on, concerns, therefore, will be there on the Indian side.
02:43Rohit Sharma, with all those details, appreciate your joining us.
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