Years of increasingly severe sanctions may have made its inclusion in Donald Trump’s tariffs list unnecessary, but Russia has nevertheless managed to import goods for $22 billion into the United States since 2022, the year when it launched its war against Ukraine.
Trade between the two superpowers has been going down a steep slope over the past three years. However, both sides have made it clear that sanctions are part of the bargain on how to end the conflict, and it remains to be seen how this is going to play out. For now, instead of the “reciprocal tariffs” slap for the rest of the world, Russia is only getting a “secondary tariffs” threat.
Russia not on the United States’ global tariffs list
U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday sweeping new tariffs on more than 180 countries that will pay at least 10% on the goods they are importing into the United States. Much higher rates will be imposed on what Trump calls the “worst offenders,” including some of America’s main trading partners such as China (additional 34%) and the European Union (20%).
“It’s our declaration of economic independence,” the President said during his “Liberation Day” announcement from the Rose Garden of the White House. He presented the levies as a payback for what has been described as unfair trade policies regarding the U.S. by nations such as Vietnam, for example, which will be charged 46% in the future, and Cambodia, at 49%.
However, some omissions in the otherwise global list of “reciprocal tariffs” were immediately spotted by media around the world. Among them are the Russian Federation and some of its closest allies in the ongoing war with Ukraine. The latter will now pay 10%, as much as it charges the U.S.
“It is noteworthy that Russia was not in the target list for increased American tariffs,” the leading Russian business daily Kommersant pointed out in an article. The newspaper referred to Scott Bessent’s explanation about the absence. “The United States does not trade with Russia,” the U.S. treasury secretary told Fox.
Sanctions viewed as bargaining chip by both Russia and the U.S.
Trade between the United States and the Russian Federation has been declining at a fast pace, especially after Moscow invaded Ukraine about three years ago. From $14.4 billion in 2022, Russian imports into the U.S. plummeted to $4.6 billion in 2023 and then $3 billion in 2024. Yet that makes around $22 billion in three years of strong geopolitical confrontation.
Since Trump’s return to power, the two nations have restored full diplomatic relations and started negotiations for peace in Ukraine. Both he and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, have referred to the sanctions in the context of these talks.
While the Russian leader attached their easing as a condition for committing to a ceasefire, the U.S. president threatened Russia with “secondary tariffs” on buyers of Russian oil if Moscow stalls the process. A bipartisan group of U.S. senators proposed a bill imposing a 500% tariff on imported goods from countries that buy oil, gas, uranium, and other products from Russia.
China looks to India for trade ahead of US tariff announcement
The already tough sanctions on Russia were also the main reason that White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt gave for not adding the country to the long tariffs list. These “preclude any meaningful trade” she told the U.S.-based news website Axios. Leavitt also noted that the Russian Federation could still face “additional strong sanctions,” echoing President Trump’s statements on the matter.
The report revealed that the value of all trade between the U.S. and Russia has dropped from approximately $35 billion in 2021, the year before the full-fledged war started, to around $3.5 billion as of last year, largely as a result of the sanctions imposed on Russia for attacking its neighbor.
Leavitt further remarked that Belarus and North Korea were also omitted as the sanctions against them are already high as well. The two countries have been among Russia’s closest allies in its so-called “special military operation” in Ukraine, with Minsk providing territory and infrastructure during the initial stages of the invasion and Pyongyang sending ammunition and troops to help Russia contain and push back the Ukrainian incursion into the Russian Kursk region.
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