Existing sanctions have significantly reduced trade with Moscow, according to US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent
Russia was excluded from President Donald Trump’s sweeping new tariffs because existing US sanctions have already severely restricted trade between the two countries, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said.
Speaking to Fox News on Wednesday following the announcement of broad import duties, Bessent explained that Russia, along with Belarus, Cuba, and North Korea, was not targeted under the new measures as the US “does not trade meaningfully with these countries.” In Russia’s case, he emphasized that “the sanctions are already doing the work that tariffs would.”
Trump on Tuesday unveiled new tariffs ranging from 10% to 50% on imported goods from dozens of countries. They include 34% for Chinese imports, 20% on EU products, and 24% on goods from Japan. According to the president, the move is part of a broader strategy to promote American industry and correct what Trump described as “grossly unfair trade imbalances.”
The exclusion of Russia from this list raised questions from the media, given the ongoing Ukraine conflict and Washington’s sanctions policy against Moscow. However, administration officials have argued that restrictions imposed since 2022 have already diminished trade to the point where tariffs would have little additional effect.
American imports from Russia fell to approximately $3 billion in 2024, down 34.2% from the previous year, according to US government data. In contrast, the US imported $427 billion in goods from China during the same period, underscoring the limited scope of US–Russia trade.
The Kremlin has denounced Western sanctions as illegal, repeatedly arguing that the restrictions have failed to destabilize the Russian economy or isolate it from the global financial system. With the escalation of Western sanctions since 2022, Russia has focused on shifting trade to Asia and the Global South, primarily China and India.
Russia’s GDP growth came in at 3.6% in 2023 and 4.1% last year, according to data published earlier this year by the state statistics agency, Rosstat. Nominal GDP hit a record high of 200 trillion rubles (over $2 trillion) by the end of 2024, the report indicated.
Russia’s Ministry of Economic Development expects a GDP growth rate of 2.5% this year, while the Bank of Russia is projecting a 0.5-1.5% expansion.
At the same time, the Biden-Trump transition period has seen a modest thaw in US–Russia diplomatic contact. Kirill Dmitriev, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s special economic envoy and head of the country’s sovereign wealth fund, visited Washington this week for closed-door meetings with administration officials and business leaders. It marked the highest-level Russian visit since the outbreak of the Ukraine conflict.
