Trump's global tariffs exclude Russia amid low trade ties
President Donald Trump has introduced new tariffs that apply to nearly all countries worldwide. However, Russia is notably absent from this list. According to the White House, the existing sanctions on Russia are the reason for this exclusion. Experts point out the minimal trade exchange between the U.S. and Russia but highlight Trump's inconsistency in this decision.
Following President Trump's announcement of the new tariffs, questions emerged about why Russia was not included. War-torn Ukraine is on the list and faces a 10 percent tariff.
A White House representative explained that Russia was excluded because the existing sanctions related to the war in Ukraine have effectively reduced trade between the U.S. and Russia to almost nothing.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent clarified in an interview with Fox News that the omission is due to the fact that the U.S. does not trade with Russia, as both countries are currently under sanctions.
In 2023, trade between the U.S. and Belarus amounted to a total of $66 million. The United States exported goods worth $16 million to Belarus, while goods worth $49 million went in the opposite direction. Meanwhile, U.S.-Russia trade in 2024 amounted to $3.5 billion, with $3 billion being U.S. exports to Russia.
"The trade exchange between the USA and Russia is negligible." It is smaller than the trade exchange between Poland and Lithuania. These are not valuable economic turnovers, given the geopolitical situation, which isn’t surprising, says Jerzy Marek Nowakowski, a former Polish ambassador to Latvia and Armenia.
At the same time, he emphasizes that Trump has been "very courteous" towards Putin lately.
"Even when he got angry at the Russian stance regarding the end of the war in Ukraine, he threatened to impose tariffs on countries buying Russian oil. However, he stopped at threats. In the case of a trade war - declared on the whole world - it was evidently more important for Trump that Russia and Belarus are already under severe American sanctions. The White House therefore considered that adding more burdens, given such a low trade exchange, would bring no benefits. Instead, he might negotiate with Russia on other, more important matters," believes Jerzy Marek Nowakowski.
Leszek Szerepka, a former Polish ambassador to Belarus, points out Trump's inconsistency.
"Americans used the argument of low economic turnovers in trade exchange regarding the lack of tariffs on Russia. In my opinion, these arguments do not reflect well on the White House. Some time ago, they warned that if Russia didn’t agree to a truce, Trump would impose severe tariffs. It turned out he was bluffing and did not impose them," says Leszek Szerepka.
He adds that now nearly everyone is affected by the tariffs, but Moscow is not. "Of course, I do not think that with such a trade exchange, a new levy would hurt Russia. But if Trump were consistent, he wouldn't spare Putin. " This indicates strange maneuvers in American diplomacy. It may stem from Washington having other plans towards the Kremlin. Perhaps they have additional sanctions planned if there is no truce with Ukraine. It's hard to say because Trump is difficult to understand. The American president thinks business-wise, not diplomatically," recalls the former Polish ambassador to Belarus.
According to Leszek Szerepka, Russia is needed by Washington in global politics. "It is said that Trump wishes to execute a 'reverse Kissinger' maneuver. Just as President Richard Nixon and his Secretary of State Henry Kissinger exploited the Soviet-Chinese split in the 1970s to weaken the USSR, the USA might now seek to split Russia and China at the expense of China. However, this concept is flawed because China and Russia maintain strategic and convenient cooperation. And Trump being lenient towards Putin may backfire," claims Szerepka.
