Trump’s tariffs hit allies and rivals, but Russia, Cuba and North Korea escape penalties
Russia left off because there was no meaningful trade with it, while Cuba, Belarus and North Korea were already heavily sanctioned
07:05
World leaders react to Trump’s new tariff blitz as global trade war escalates
While US President Donald Trump announced tariffs on allies and foes including Europe, India, Japan and China, some of the world’s most heavily sanctioned countries – Russia, Belarus, Cuba and North Korea – avoided being singled out for special punitive treatment.
With the world gripped by trade war, Trump imposed a 10 per cent tariff on most goods imported to the United States. China, the biggest supplier of goods to the US, now faces a 54 per cent tariff on all exports to the world’s biggest consumer.
“In the face of unrelenting economic warfare, the United States can no longer continue with a policy of unilateral economic surrender,” Trump said as he presented the tariffs.
The White House released a list of comments from people praising his tariffs. They said ordinary American workers would benefit after years of what they described as abuse from trading partners such as China.
Trump said he would impose a 10 per cent baseline tariff on all imports to the United States and higher duties on dozens of countries. Russia, Cuba and North Korea did not appear on the list of countries facing higher “reciprocal” tariffs released by the White House.
US intelligence agencies said in their annual threat assessment that China, Russia, Iran and North Korea were the biggest potential nation-state threats to the United States and Trump had threatened Moscow with new trade measures.