US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. president Donald Trump © Getty Images / Anna Monayaker
Russia was excluded from the fresh extremist tariffs of president Donald Trump, as existing US sanctions have already severely curtailed trade between the 2 countries, said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
In a conversation with Fox News on Wednesday after announcing a wide import work Bessent explained that Russia, like Belarus, Cuba and North Korea, was not covered by fresh measures due to the fact that the US "they do not trade importantly with these countries".In the case of Russia, he stressed that "sanctions are already doing the same work that the tariffs would do".Trump revealed fresh tariffs on Tuesday ranging from 10% to 50% for goods imported from respective twelve countries.
These include 34% for imports from China, 20% for EU products and 24% for goods from Japan.
According to the President, this decision is part of a broader strategy to advance American manufacture and correct what Trump described as "failingly unfair trade imbalances".Russia's exclusion from this list raised questions from the media, given the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and Washington's sanctions policy against Moscow.
However, administrative officials argued that the restrictions imposed since 2022 had already reduced trade to specified an degree that duties would not have any additional impact.American imports from Russia fell to around $3 billion in 2024, a drop of 34.2% compared to the erstwhile year, as reported by the US government.
In turn, the US imported goods from China worth $427 billion in the same period, which underlines the limited scope of trade between the US and Russia.The Kremlin condemned western sanctions as illegal, repeatedly arguing that restrictions did not destabilise the Russian economy or isolate it from the global financial system.
With the escalation of Western sanctions since 2022. Russia focused on moving trade to Asia and the Global South, mainly China and India.Russia's GDP growth was 3.6% in 2023 and 4.1% last year, according to data previously published this year by the state statistical agency Rosstat.
Nominal GDP reached a evidence level of 200 trillion rubles (more than $2 trillion) by the end of 2024, indicated in the report.The Ministry of economical improvement of Russia expects GDP growth of 2.5% this year, while the Russian Bank forecasts expansion of 0.5-1.5%.At the same time, Biden-Trump's transition period brought modest warming in US-Russia diplomatic relations.
Kirill Dmitriev, peculiar economical envoy of Russia's president Vladimir Putin and head of the state wealth fund, visited Washington this week for closed meetings with administration officials and business leaders.
It was the highest Russian visit since the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine
Translated by the Google Translator
source:https://www.rt.com/news/615196-us-tariffs-russia-exemption/
