SEN RAND PAUL: This reckless Russia sanctions bill could harm American families

Congress may soon consider the Senator Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia Act of 2026 — a bill that epitomizes how out of touch Washington’s foreign policy establishment is with everyday Americans. The legislation is the latest counterproductive attempt to hold Russia accountable for its war against Ukraine, now well into its fifth year. But don’t let sympathy for Ukraine fool you: this legislation is a tariff bill that seems to have been written with such blind rage that, rather than compel a change in Vladimir Putin’s behavior, its punitive measures would make American families poorer and undermine our national interests.

The Graham Sanction/Tariff bill, if passed, will likely be the largest tax increase ever passed by a Republican Congress and cost the American people half a trillion dollars. The bill would slap a 500 percent tariff on all U.S. trade with Russia and give the President unilateral authority to impose up to 100 percent tariffs on all goods imported into the United States from the top five largest importers of Russian crude oil or natural gas and countries who facilitate Russian oil sanctions evasion.

Those countries currently encompass China, India, Japan, Azerbaijan France, Hungary, Belgium, and Slovakia — with the addition of Russia, this encompasses nearly 40 percent of the world’s total population. While some countries may be exempted if they work to reduce Russian energy imports, the list of penalized countries is subject to change every 180 days. U.S. partners such as Turkey, Brazil, South Korea, and the European Union, that continue to import Russian oil and gas out of necessity, may soon find themselves put on the list.

TRUMP BET TARIFFS WOULD BRING BACK AMERICAN FACTORY JOBS. NEW REPORT SAYS IT DIDN’T WORK

This tax will, of course, be collected primarily on the American companies who import goods from these countries. When tariffs are placed on products made in China, the average American pays that tax when they shop at Walmart or any other store that offers Chinese-made products. One way to understand how tariffs work is to look at who is applying to get refunds since the Supreme Court struck down the emergency tariffs — Walmart, Costco, Home Depot, Target, General Motors, and UPS, are among the companies expected to receive billions of dollars in refunds. China isn’t on the refund list because China doesn’t pay the tariffs. American importers and retailers pay the tariffs, and they pass the cost of the tariffs onto you, the consumer.

While Vice President Vance may disdain the legacy of Milton Friedman, Friedman’s genius was in pointing out that tariffs are sold as “protective measures” when in reality a tariff only “protects the consumer very well against one thing . . . low prices.”

If the tax proves so onerous as to prevent trade with these countries the disruption to our economy could be worse than the Smoot Hawley tariffs that exacerbated the Great Depression. Smoot-Hawley raised the average tariff by 20 percent, which almost seems quaint compared to the increases threatened by the Graham legislation.

China and India, in particular, are vital U.S. trade partners. In 2025 the United States imported over $308 billion worth of goods from China and over $103 billion from India. Middle and low-income Americans enjoy a higher quality of life when they have more purchasing power for everyday necessities. Imposing a 100 percent tariff on all goods imported from these countries is the economic equivalent of shooting ourselves in the foot. What are we going to say to the minimum wage workers who need to buy a new part to fix their car so they can get to work, the parents trying to buy their kids new shoes for the school year, or the single mother buying diapers, when they notice that prices have doubled?

Perhaps the geniuses who think it’s a good idea to pursue policies that raise prices during an election year when Americans’ primary concern is the cost of living aren’t so smart after all.

It is also unclear how tariffs could even be imposed on members of the European Union, like Slovakia and Hungary, as the EU handles trade as a unified bloc. In 2025 U.S.-EU bilateral trade was over $1 trillion. Trying to tariff individual EU countries may very well result in the EU retaliating in unison against the United States — an economically disastrous possibility for American families.

The bill also imposes more futile sanctions on Russian officials and companies. Russia is subject to over 26,000 sanctions and no one can point to any change in Russia’s behavior. Additionally, the bill bans U.S. citizens from conducting business and investment in Russia, and gives the President authority to sanction any foreign person he determines is undermining Ukraine.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE FOX NEWS OPINION

What that means in practice is anyone’s guess. Our Polish ally recently had a significant diplomatic fallout with the Ukrainian government as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy named a military unit in honor of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army — a militant group responsible for the murder of some 100,000 Poles during World War Two. Is the Polish government undermining Ukraine? Is Congress really prepared to give the President unilateral authority to sanction some of our most steadfast allies?

To top it off, the bill includes a mechanism for Congress to prevent a President from removing tariffs or sanctions, but no way for Congress itself to remove them. This authority could therefore last far beyond President Trump and who knows in what manner a future President may seek to abuse such power.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

It is foolhardy to think that Russia, having sustained some 1.4 million casualties, thousands of economic sanctions, and over four years of economic isolation, will now come to the negotiating table because the United States decides to tariff third countries. Moscow may in fact welcome the United States inflicting unnecessary economic self-harm and further degrading its relations with many of the world’s other great powers like India, whose rise could serve U.S. interests in our competition with China. Instead, we may drive India into the open arms of the People’s Republic.

Congress should reject this misguided bill that will do nothing to bring peace to Ukraine, but rather raise prices for American consumers, further weaken the dollar, and destroy U.S. relations around the globe.