WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced a widespread new rash of tariffs on imported goods, targeting nearly every country that the U.S. trades with.
The news sent markets into turmoil, with Wall Street falling rapidly in the first hour of trading Thursday morning. Asian markets, which opened before the U.S. Thursday morning, also had major selloffs, highlighting the deep fears of a trade war with the largest economy in the world.
But despite tariffs being placed on longtime American allies such as the European Union, some notable countries were left off the tariff list unveiled by Trump at the White House.
U.S. neighbors Canada and Mexico were left off the list, possibly because they already face separate sanction measures from the U.S.
And Russia, which has been under U.S.-led sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine in 2022, will not face additional tariffs under Trump’s latest economic push.
Why is Russia not facing U.S. tariffs?
The White House told Axios after Trump’s announcement that Russia was excluded for the same reason North Korea, Cuba and Belarus were left off the list. According to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, the sanctions on those countries already “preclude any meaningful trade.”
Axios reported that trade between the U.S. and Russia has plummeted in recent years: from around $35 billion in 2021 to $3.5 billion in 2024, primarily because of the sanctions.
Despite Leavitt’s assertion, the Trump White House has been attempting to thaw relations with Russia, which have been poor since the Kremlin began its invasion of neighboring Ukraine, which is backed by the U.S. and European allies in NATO.
On Thursday, as markets were still in freefall in the first day of trading since Trump’s tariff announcement, the Kremlin said a Russian envoy was in the U.S. to speak with the Trump administration for the first time in over a year.
In March, Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke on the phone with Trump as the two discussed an end to the war in Ukraine and more economic cooperation between the two countries.
Putin has also asked for some sanctions to be lifted off Russia as part of the ongoing negotiations to end the conflict.
Are Canada and Mexico facing U.S. tariffs?
Although they aren’t subject to the latest round of tariffs from the Trump White House, Mexico and Canada are still dealing with trade disputes with the U.S.
In the months since Trump has regained office, his administration slapped 25% tariffs on Mexican and Canadian imports. But in a series of negotiations with both countries, Trump has backed off some of the threat.
As of Thursday, the Trump administration is only enforcing the 25% tariffs on goods that aren’t included under a 2020 trade agreement called the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (sometimes shortened to USMCA).