Reason for Excluding Russia from US Tariff List Revealed

The United States has not included Russia in the list of countries subject to tariffs because Washington is currently negotiating with Moscow regarding the resolution of the Ukraine conflict, said Kevin Hassett, director of the White House Council of Economic Advisers.

On April 2, US President Donald Trump announced the imposition of reciprocal tariffs on imports from other countries. The base tariff rate was set at 10 percent, 20 percent against the EU, and 34 percent against China.

“It is clear that negotiations are ongoing with Russia and Ukraine, and I think the president has decided not to mix these two issues. This does not mean that Russia will be treated entirely differently from any other country,” Hassett noted. According to him, the parties involved in the conflict are losing lives.

In this context, he clarified that raising the issue of tariffs during attempts to achieve peace would be ineffective. Earlier, Western media reported that Trump’s decision not to impose tariffs on goods from Russia, Belarus, and a number of other countries had generated many hypotheses and speculations.