While the world's economies are still reeling from Donald Trump's on-again, off-again tariffs that are the centerpiece of his trade war with U.S. allies and enemies alike, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) is proposing one of his own.
And it is not being well received.
According to a report from Politico, the South Carolina Republican is pushing a sanctions bill that would slam any country with a 500 percent tariff if they buy Russian energy products, which Graham termed a "bone-crushing" for the Kremlin and President Vladimir Putin.
More than a few and trade experts believe Graham's plan, if approved, would hurt the U.S. more.
As Politico's Amy MacKinnon wrote, "experts remain skeptical that the sky-high tariffs proposed in the Sanctioning Russia Act are in any way feasible," adding that it could cut the U.S. from some of its favored trading partners which are highly independent on Russian energy.
India and China buy roughly 70 percent of Russian energy exports, but several other countries that buy any oil, gas or uranium from Moscow — and aren’t included in the carve-out — could also be exposed to tariffs under the bill," the report states before adding that U.S. is also highly dependent on imports of enriched uranium from Russia to fuel its nuclear reactors."
According to Kevin Book of Clear View Energy Partners, an energy research firm, "A 500 percent tariff is essentially a hard decoupling.”
Criticism of his plan has made Graham offer a carveout for countries that provide aid to Ukraine saving the EU from having to make a hard choice.
Nonetheless, Politico is reporting that Graham's proposal could put trade negotiators in peril.
According to Edward Fishman, a senior researcher with the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University, a hard stop on energy purchases would be a "struggle" before adding, "It would hurt Americans quite a bit."
You can read more here.