US President Donald Trump dropped a tariffs bomb on the whole world on “Liberation Day” by imposing sanctions on every country the US trades with – with very few notable exceptions. Russia, Cuba, Belarus and North Korea were exempted, but not Ukraine or Israel.
“The current sanctions against these four countries are quite strict, and the introduction of additional trade measures is not currently being considered,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt explained the decision in comments to Axios.
The tariffs include a blanket 10% minimum duty on most imported goods and a 25% levy on all foreign cars, effective April 3. However, countries already under heavy US sanctions—including Russia, Belarus, Cuba, and North Korea—have been excluded from the new trade measures as the White House considers the current sanctions regimes in place sufficiently robust, Leavitt said.
US tariffs imposed on Russia would be almost useless as the trade turnover between the two fell to a mere $3.8bn in 2024 out of total exports of $417bn. The US imported $3bn of Russian goods, or 0.72% of Russia’s total exports.
Still, Leavitt warned that the Kremlin should not assume it is off the hook permanently, saying that “Russia may still face additional strong sanctions” in the future.
Trump is reportedly getting frustrated at the slow pace of progress in the ceasefire talks that kicked off in Riyadh on February 18 and threw his weight behind a sanctions bill that impose up to 500% secondary tariffs on any country that trades with Russia, floated in a bi-partisan effort earlier this week if Russian President Vladimir Putin refuses to sign off on the mooted 30-day ceasefire deal currently on the table.
Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said at the weekend the talks were close to collapse. Kirill Dmitriev, a member of the negotiating team and head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, is currently in Washington on April 3 for talks with Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff to try and break the deadlock.
Canada and Mexico are also spared from the latest tariff package due to the 25% import duties the US had imposed on them in previous trade actions.
Surprisingly, Ukraine and Iran were included in the tariff regime but were hit with the minimum 10% tariff rate, respectively. However, the US ran a trade surplus with Ukraine in 2024 and had negligible trade with Iran, apart from imported rugs and pistachios.
The trade turnover between the United States and Ukraine totalled approximately $2.87bn in 2024, comprising $1.68bn in US exports to Ukraine and $1.19bn in imports from Ukraine. However, Trump has complained about the billions of dollars the US has poured into supporting Ukraine over the last three years and is trying to recoup some of what was spent.
Between February 2022 through December 2024, the US allocated approximately $182.8bn to Ukraine as military and financial support of which a bit less than $100bn was actually delivered.
The new tariffs, unveiled on April 2, reflect President Trump’s renewed push for what he has described as a “fair trade reset,” aimed at boosting domestic manufacturing and closing the trade deficit. The imposition of a universal 10% duty marks a significant shift from previous targeted measures, indicating a broader, more aggressive protectionist stance.
Markets are now closely watching for retaliatory measures from major trading partners and further clarification on how exemptions—especially for sanctioned states—might evolve in the coming months.