The White House explained why it did not impose tariffs against Russia

The White House explained why Russia was not included in the list of countries subject to new tariffs.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, in an interview with Fox News, stated that due to sanctions, the U.S. does not conduct trade with Russia or Belarus.

“Well, we don’t trade with Russia and Belarus. Right? They are under sanctions,” he said.

White House Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt told Axios that existing sanctions against Russia already “exclude any significant trade”. An unnamed White House official told the New York Times that this was also why Cuba and North Korea were not included in the tariff list.

However, Axios challenged these claims, noting that U.S.-Russia trade still exists, though it has decreased tenfold—from $35 billion in 2021 to $3.5 billion last year.

“The U.S. still trades more with Russia than with countries like Mauritius or Brunei, which were included in Trump’s new tariff list,” the outlet wrote.

It was also noted that some remote island territories with less trade volume than Russia were hit with tariffs.