Serbia faces an even bigger problem: Trump imposes 500 percent tariffs targeting countries trading with Russia

Responding to journalists on Sunday about whether it is time for Congress to adopt measures aimed at pressuring Russia and President Vladimir Putin, Trump said: “I hear they are doing it, and that’s fine with me. They are passing a law… Republicans are introducing a law… very strict sanctions… for any country that does business with Russia. They may also add Iran… I suggested that myself,” he said.

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“So, any country that does business with Russia will be very severely sanctioned. We may also add Iran to that formula,” Trump reiterated.

The Trump administration has imposed 50 percent tariffs on India, among the highest in the world, including a 25 percent tariff on its purchases of Russian energy.

A bill introduced by Senator Lindsey Graham proposes a 500 percent tariff on secondary purchases and resale of Russian oil. The proposal has near-unanimous support in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Graham and Senator Richard Blumenthal jointly introduced the Russia Sanctions Act of 2025, which aims to impose secondary tariffs and sanctions on “countries that continue to finance Putin’s barbaric war in Ukraine.”

The proposed bill has 85 cosponsors in the Senate.

“President Trump and his team have made a strong move, implementing a new approach to end this bloodshed between Russia and Ukraine… However, the key blow that could bring this war to an end will be tariffs against countries such as China, India, and Brazil, which support Putin’s war machine by buying cheap Russian oil and gas,” Graham and Blumenthal said in a joint statement in July.

The announced sanctions will, like those on other countries, also affect Serbia, and the consequences are expected to be far-reaching, following the U.S. rejection of the proposal concerning NIS.