White House says Trump tariffs did not target Russia because U.S. has no ‘meaningful trade’ with it

U.S. President Donald Trump has opted not to impose new tariffs on Russian goods, citing the fact that existing American sanctions have already eliminated any “meaningful trade” with Russia, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told Axios.

However, the outlet noted that “the U.S. still trades more with Russia than with countries like Mauritius or Brunei that did make Trump’s tariffs list.”

Cuba, Belarus, and North Korea were also left off the new list. According to Leavitt, current tariffs and sanctions on these countries are already high enough.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox News that trade with Russia and Belarus has effectively ceased due to sanctions, which is why they were not included in the new measures.

A White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity to The New York Times, said that Russia, Belarus, Cuba, and North Korea “are already facing extremely high tariffs and our previously imposed sanctions preclude any meaningful trade with these countries.”

According to The Bell, trade between the United States and Russia totaled $3.5 billion in 2024. In 2021, before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, that figure stood at $35 billion.

President Trump announced the new tariffs on April 2, targeting imports from most countries. The list includes China, the United Kingdom, Japan, Taiwan, and others. Ukraine was also included, with a tariff rate of 10 percent, as were Kazakhstan (27 percent), Moldova (31 percent), and Georgia (10 percent).