While US President Donald Trump has announced tariffs on allies and foes, including Europe, India, Japan and China, some of the world's most heavily sanctioned countries - Russia, Belarus, Cuba and North Korea - have avoided new tariffs, reports "Reuters".
Trump imposed a 10% tariff on most goods imported into the United States. China, the largest supplier of goods to the United States, now faces a 54% tariff on all exports to the world's largest consumer.
"In the face of a relentless economic war, the United States can no longer continue with a policy of unilateral economic capitulation," Trump said as he unveiled the tariffs.
Trump also announced that he would impose a base tariff of 10% on all imports into the United States and higher tariffs on dozens of countries. Russia, Cuba and North Korea are not on the list of countries facing higher "reciprocal" tariffs. tariffs presented by the White House.
US intelligence agencies said in their annual threat assessment that China, Russia, Iran and North Korea are the biggest potential threats to nation states for the US, and Trump recently threatened Moscow with new trade measures.
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Asked why Russia is not on the list, US Treasury Secretary Scott Besant told Fox News that the US does not trade with Russia and Belarus and that they are under sanctions.
Trade in goods between Russia and the US was $3.5 billion last year, according to US data. In 2021, the year before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, it was $36 billion.
White House press secretary Caroline Leavitt told Axios that Russia was omitted because there was no meaningful trade with it, and Cuba, Belarus and North Korea were not included because existing tariffs and sanctions on them were already so high.
Russia, which is subject to more than 28,595 different Western sanctions, has not reported trade data since the war began.
U.S. imports from Russia are set to total $3.0 billion in 2024, a 34.2 percent drop from 2023, according to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.
For Russia, however, the biggest risk is the potential slowdown in global demand from the broader tariff war — which could hit oil prices.
The Russian Central Bank has warned officials earlier this year that the US and OPEC have the capacity to flood the oil market and trigger a repeat of the prolonged price collapse of the 1980s - which contributed to the collapse of the Soviet Union.