Trump signs Russia sanctions law, tariff threat looms over India, China: Can Africa become Putin’s next energy network? | Today News
Trump signs Russia sanctions law, tariff threat looms over India, China: Can Africa become Putin’s next energy network?
Egypt has emerged as the top African buyer of Russian fossil fuels, acquiring €513 million worth in August. The country is pivotal in Russia’s African energy trade as Moscow expands military logistics in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger amid US sanctions on major buyers like India and China.
With US President Donald Trump having signed the Lindsey Graham Sanctions bill that allows him to impose steep tariffs, as high as 100% on India and China, the biggest buyers of Russian oil, Vladimir Putin might have to look towards Africa to continue sustaining its wider networks.
The Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 was signed by Trump on 18 September once it cleared the US Congress.
As per the provisions of the law, the US President can impose sanctions of up to 100% on countries buying oil from Russia.
India’s Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI) has urged the central government to engage with Washington in order to protect Indian exporters, ANI reported.
Also Read|Trump signs Russia sanctions bill, clears way for 100% tariff on India, China
“Any additional tariffs under this Act will be very difficult to absorb for the MSME-dominated Indian textile and apparel sector already under stress due to several factors, including the continuing turmoil in West Asia. It will severely impact our ability to sell in the United States, our most significant market by a distance,” CITI Chairman Ashwin Chandran said, as per ANI.
Can Russia depend on African network?
With western countries cutting their imports of Russian oil after the war with Ukraine began in 2022, Moscow had
turned towards its partners in Asia. With the latest sanctions threat looming over both Beijing and New Delhi, Moscow will try to explore its options in Africa to sustain its wider network.
Russia has political, military, as well as logistical ties across Africa although no African country is a major buyer of Russian crude.
The sanctioned tanker Progress was spotted in January when it ran into some difficulties while carrying around 730,000 barrels of Urals crude from Russia while it was moving towards the Suez Canal.
Another LNG carrier from Russia, Arctic Metagaz, entered the search-and-rescue zone of Libya after it suffered damages in the Mediterranean.
Also Read|How India’s Russian oil imports shifted amid US tariff flip-flops
Egypt is the African country with the most direct involvement in the energy trade of Russia, Business Insider Africa revealed. The country, in August, became the fifth-largest buyer of Russian fossil fuels, when it purchased goods worth €513 million, as per the CREA.
Moscow has also been deepening its military logistics network, which now links Mali, Burkina Faso, as well as Niger.
As per an investigation carried out by the US-based Center for Advanced Defense Studies (C4DS), 75 flights were identified which resupplied Russia-aligned military operations in countries like Niger, Burkina Faso, and Mali during the period of January 2025-July 2026.
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