The US Treasury explained why the tariffs on goods from Russia and Belarus

The United States did not impose duties on imports of goods from Russia and Belarus, as products from these countries are not supplied to the USA. This was stated by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in an interview with Fox News. He also stressed that other countries should refuse to retaliate against duties, as these measures could provoke escalation.

"Let's see what it leads to, because if you take retaliatory measures, it will lead to escalation," Bessent said in an interview with CNN.

According to him, countries with trade surpluses "traditionally always lose in any escalation of trade," therefore, Bessent warns, "it would be unwise to do anything rash."

White House spokeswoman Caroline Leavitt told Axios that Russia, Belarus, Cuba and North Korea are not included in the list of countries that will be affected by the new tariffs because "they are already facing extremely high tariffs, and our previously imposed sanctions prevent any meaningful trade with these countries." At the same time, she did not rule out that Russia may face "additional tough sanctions."

At the same time, Axios claims, the United States still trades with Russia more than with countries such as Mauritius or Brunei, which are on the tariff list. For them, the duties are 40% and 24%, respectively.

On April 2, US President Donald Trump announced the introduction of duties on imports of goods from 260 countries around the world. Russia, Belarus, Iran and North Korea were not on this list.