US explains why Russia is not subject to new tariffs
The White House said Russia was not affected by the new US tariffs, as talks to end the conflict continued.
According to RIA Novosti, White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett said in an interview with ABC News on April 6 that Russia is not on the list of new US tariffs, because Washington is currently negotiating with this country to resolve the conflict in Ukraine.
“Obviously there are negotiations going on with Russia and Ukraine, and I think the president has made a decision not to lump those two countries into the new tariff list. That doesn’t mean that Russia will be treated any differently than any other country,” Hassett said.
The White House National Economic Council director said the top priority right now is saving lives in the conflict, so imposing tariffs while trying to achieve peace would be counterproductive.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said no tariffs would be imposed on Russia and Belarus. According to Peskov, Russia was not included in the list because there were currently no specific figures on trade with the United States. However, he acknowledged that imposing tariffs on other countries would not be in Russia's interest and that care must be taken to minimize the possible economic consequences of such measures.
On April 2, US President Donald Trump sent shockwaves around the world when he announced tariffs on imports from other countries. The minimum base rate will be 10%. But almost every country will face higher tariffs, calculated based on the US trade deficit with that country to balance the scales.
According to the US leader, imposing tariffs would be a declaration of the independence of the US economy, and would help use huge amounts of money to pay off the national debt.
