The White House on Thursday clarified its decision to keep Russia off President Trump’s sweeping âLiberation Dayâ tariffs list after it raised some eyebrows, explaining that Moscow already faced tough sanctions — and the threat of even more loomed large.
The Kremlin was among a handful of countries noticeably exempt from Trump’s decision to slap a 10% baseline tariff on all imports to the US, as well as higher duties on some of its biggest global trading partners.
Russia’s absence from the exhaustive list, which was unveiled Wednesday, was down to previously-imposed sanctions already preventing “any meaningful trade” with Moscow, a White House official confirmed to The Post.
Three others — Cuba, Belarus and North Korea — were also lumped in the same basket.
“Cuba, Belarus, North Korea, and Russia are not subject to the Reciprocal Tariff Executive Order because they are already facing extremely high tariffs and our previously imposed sanctions preclude any meaningful trade with these countries,” the official said.
“President Trump has also recently threatened to impose strong sanctions on Russia.”
The commander in chief warned as recently as last week that Russia risked additional tariffs and sanctions if President Vladimir Putin didn’t agree to a US-backed cease-fire deal to end the bloodshed in Ukraine.
âIf Russia and I are unable to make a deal on stopping the bloodshed in Ukraine, and if I think it was Russiaâs fault â which it might not be â but if I think it was Russiaâs fault, I am going to put secondary tariffs on oil, on all oil coming out of Russia,â Trump vowed in an NBC interview.
âThat would be that if you buy oil from Russia, you canât do business in the United States,â he added. âThere will be a 25% tariff on all oil, a 25- to 50-point tariff on all oil.â
Meanwhile, Mexico and Canada, too, evaded the new 10% levy given Trump’s move to hit the two major economies with 25% tariffs on auto imports, as well as steel and aluminum.
In announcing the move, Trump argued that the âreciprocalâ tariffs were a response to duties and other non-tariff barriers put on US goods and designed to boost manufacturing jobs at home.
Despite cancelling its remaining tariffs on imports ahead of Trump’s announcement, Israel was still included on the otherwise exhaustive list.
The president’s higher rates will hit foreign entities that sell more goods to the United States than they buy.
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