The Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 puts major buyers of Russian crude, including India and China, at risk. The timing is delicate. India-US bilateral trade agreement talks are in their final leg, the ongoing war in Iran has severely disrupted energy markets, and Chinese President Xi Jinping’s first White House visit in a decade is scheduled for next week.
The law’s double standards are evident. It aims to squeeze Russia’s energy revenues over the Ukraine war, yet it carves out US imports of low-enriched uranium (LEU) from Russia, a material crucial to America’s nuclear power industry. The Bill spells it out: “…shall not apply with respect to imports into the United States of low-enriched uranium.”
Not a surprise given the US dependence on it. According to the US International Trade Commission, since the Russia-Ukraine war began, US imports of enriched uranium from Russia increased by 23.75%, from $829.75 million in 2022 to $1026.78 million in 2025. That was 23.42% of total imports of enriched uranium for that period. Only the UK ($1,352.72 million) supplied more, ahead of France ($886.47 million) and the Netherlands ($648.68 million).
What does enriched uranium mean?
Uranium found in nature consists largely of two isotopes — U-235 and U-238. Natural uranium contains 0.7% of the U-235 isotope, while the remaining 99.3% is mostly the U-238 isotope, which does not contribute directly to the fission process.
Energy production in nuclear reactors comes from the “fission”, or splitting, of U-235 atoms, which releases energy in the form of heat. Since natural uranium contains only 0.7% U-235, LWRs require uranium to be “enriched” — which means raising the concentration of U-235 relative to U-238 to sustain a fission chain reaction.
US dependence on Russian uranium
According to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), the existing US commercial fleet of 96 large light water reactors requires about 2,000 metric tonnes of low-enriched uranium (LEU) per year. This is because US nuclear reactors are based on light water reactor (LWR) technology, which uses light water (ordinary water) to cool and moderate the reactor. These LWRs require low-enriched uranium (LEU) as fuel, in which uranium is enriched from 0.7% to 3-5% U-235. This is mainly because light water absorbs some neutrons that would otherwise sustain fission.
Significantly, the US itself has very limited enrichment capacity and depends heavily on imports to run its 98 gigawatt-electric (GWe) nuclear fleet. With respect to LEU supply, in 2024 the U.S. imported about 81% of the LEU needed to meet commercial nuclear power demands according to EIA, and about 20% of total U.S. LEU demand was sourced from Russia that year.
Global uranium enrichment capacity is also highly concentrated. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), 99% of the global enrichment capacity is concentrated in four suppliers, with Russia accounting for 40% of global enrichment capacity. Others include China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) at 15%, Urenco, a British-German-Dutch consortium, at 33%; and France’s Orano at 12%.
India’s purchase of Russian oil
Even though China buys more Russian crude than India, trade policy circles here believe Washington may put greater pressure on New Delhi, partly because it could be wary of potential retaliation from Beijing.
There is precedent for such an approach. In August 2025, the US imposed an additional 25% tariff on Indian goods over India’s purchases of Russian oil, while China was spared a similar measure. The additional tariff on India was withdrawn only in February 2026.
While India had not signed a trade agreement with the US, both countries reached a deal in February and released a joint statement.
This despite New Delhi having so far agreed to several US demands as part of the trade deal, particularly in the digital sector. Most prominently, during the last Union Budget, the government announced a tax holiday to foreign companies for setting up data centres in the country until 2047, seemingly acting on a key US demand.
Russian oil makes up nearly half of India’s oil imports.Last year, the government had abolished the 6% ‘Google tax’ amid tariff pressure as the US said that digital services taxes are against its tech companies — the likes of Apple, Amazon, Google and Facebook. India has also stepped up energy imports from the US, opened its nuclear sector and reduced duty on a range of items of US interest.
The US has also shown accommodative signs. In July, the US imposed 10% tariffs on India, lower than the 12.5% rate proposed in March when the United States Trade Representative (USTR) identified 60 countries under Section 301 of the US Trade Act, citing imports of goods produced with forced labour.
Earlier on Thursday, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said that the government remains committed to ensuring the nation’s energy security “through diversified sourcing and based on evolving market dynamics”. It said in a statement that the proposed legislation’s implications for the India-US relationship as well as the global energy market have been flagged in discussions with US representatives.
Experts said that for New Delhi, meaningfully reducing Russian oil imports is not an option in the prevailing circumstances of global energy supply tightness amid the West Asia crisis. Even for Washington, they said, taking away millions of barrels of Russian oil from the global market when energy flows from West Asia remain highly constrained wouldn’t be prudent.
According to vessel tracking data from commodity market analytics firm Kpler, India imported 2.08 million barrels per day (bpd) of Russian oil in August, accounting for 45% of the country’s total oil imports. The share was even higher, at over 50%, in the preceding two months.
Russia is the US's biggest source of enriched uranium. (AP, Magnific) 
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