US President Donald Trump issued a fresh ultimatum for Russia on Monday as he sought an end to the Ukraine war within 50 days. The POTUS vowed to impose 100% tariffs against Moscow as well as secondary sanctions for countries that purchased oil from Russia if a deal was not struck by September. The Trump administration had skipped Russia while announcing Liberation Day taxes against nearly all imports from more than 180 nations in April — with officials noting that there was ‘no trade’ between the two countries. Data shared by the US indicates that goods trade between Russia and the US stood at $3.5 billion last year.
“We are very, very unhappy with [Russia] and we’re going to be doing very severe tariffs if we don’t have a deal in 50 days, about 100%, you call them secondary tariffs, you know what that means. I use trade for a lot of things…But it’s great for settling wars,” Trump remarked during a meeting with NATO secretary general Mark Rutte.
He did not provide specifics on how the tariffs would be implemented. A later clarification from the White House suggested that Trump planned to impose 100% tariffs on Russia as well as secondary sanctions for other countries that purchased oil from Moscow if a deal was not struck within 50 days.
Trump also reiterated his “disappointment” with Vladimir Putin during the call — noting that he had expected to have a deal “two months ago”.
“I speak to Putin a lot about getting this thing done, and I always hang up and say, ‘Well, that was a nice phone call’, and then missiles are launched into Kyiv or some other city. And after that happens three or four times, you say, the talk doesn’t mean anything. Very lovely conversations. And then the missiles go off that night. I go home, I tell the first lady, I spoke to Vladimir today, we had a wonderful conversation. And she said, Oh really, another city was just hit,” Trump lamented on Monday.
It is pertinent to note that imposing sanctions against Russia may not have significant impact since the two countries have drastically curtailed trade since the Ukraine war began in 2021.
Does Russia trade with the US?
Data shared by the US indicates that goods trade between Russia and the US stood at $3.5 billion last year. The number had been a significantly higher $36 billion in 2021 before the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It is however far higher than US bilateral trade with some countries that have incurred tariffs earlier this year.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox News soon after the Liberation Day tariff announcement that the United States did not trade with Russia and Belarus and noted that both countries remain under sanctions following the Ukraine war. The Trump administration has made extensive efforts to improve its ties with Russia and end the ongoing Ukraine war over the past six months.
