The White House on Thursday defended its decision to not include Russia, North Korea, Cuba or Belarus in the latest round of tariffs, which targeted dozens of global trading partners that were labeled the “worst offenders” when it came to trade barriers.
A White House official told The Hill in a statement that the four nations “are not subject to the Reciprocal Tariff Executive Order because they are already facing extremely high tariffs, and our previously imposed sanctions preclude any meaningful trade with these countries.”
The official added that Trump has “recently threatened to impose strong sanctions on Russia” to further explain leaving out Moscow.
President Trump on Wednesday imposed a 10 percent baseline tax on goods being imported into the U.S. But many countries were targeted with even higher tariffs, including China, Vietnam, Taiwan, Japan, India, South Korea, Thailand, Switzerland, Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia and the European Union.
China will face the highest tariffs; the president announced a 34 percent tariff Wednesday that will be imposed on top of a previously implemented 20 percent tariff for a total 54 percent tariff on goods.
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