White House defends not including Russia, North Korea on tariffs

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.

Other high numbers include 46 percent on Vietnam, 32 percent on Taiwan, 32 percent on Indonesia and 49 percent on Cambodia.

Trump said last month he is weighing additional sanctions and tariffs on Russia as a way to bring Moscow to the negotiating table to end the war in Ukraine. Russia said weeks later that it expects the U.S. to ease certain sanctions as part of an agreement for a limited ceasefire with Ukraine.