The bill to impose radical economic restrictions on Moscow has surprisingly encountered internal resistance in the US Congress.
Leading representatives of the Democratic Party have officially announced that they oppose the current version of the legislation, which has become known as the “hell” sanctions law against Russia.
The main argument for the sudden resistance is not the isolation of the Kremlin itself, but the enormous power that the document transfers into the hands of the White House. The bill, which was revised and introduced in memory of the recently deceased Senator Lindsey Graham, provides for the imposition of duties of up to 100% on countries that continue to buy Russian energy resources, such as China and India.
In a joint statement quoted by the specialized American publication Inside Trade, key figures as Ron Wyden of the Senate Finance Committee and Richard Neal of the House of Representatives have warned that the law gives Donald Trump unchecked powers. According to them, the president will be given the right to unilaterally impose or remove huge tariffs on strategic trading partners, completely bypassing the approval of Congress.
“It is extremely dangerous to give such massive tariff powers to Trump“, Democrats warned in a position paper published by The Hill. They added that the lack of time limits and a mechanism for parliamentary control over the decisions of the head of state could cause chaos in international trade and an inflationary surge for American families.
Although the law had the support of over 60 senators and was considered safe, the procedural maneuvers of Democrats in the trade committees put its vote in question just before the summer recess of the US parliament. The RIA Novosti news agency also confirmed that Democratic congressmen are already actively calling for a complete blocking of the texts in this their kind.