FxWirePro: Russia joins trade war by announcing tariffs on U.S. imports

Russia has joined Mexico, European Union, India, and China in announcing retaliatory tariffs against U.S. imports in response to the trade actions taken up by the United States. President Trump has announced 25 percent tariffs on Steel imports and 10 percent tariffs on all Aluminum imports and Russia is home to Rusal, which is world’s biggest Aluminum producer outside China.

Russian economy minister Maxim Oreshkin was quoted by the ministry as saying, “The compensation measures will be applied in the form of additional, higher rates of import duties ranging from 25% to 40% of the price of imported goods. Duties will be imposed on some U.S. goods, the analogues of which are produced in Russia. In particular, the measures cover some types of road construction equipment, oil and gas equipment, metalworking machines, rock drilling equipment, and optical fiber……The financial damage inflicted on Russian exporters by the U.S. trade restrictions amounts to $537.6 million. This is the amount of additional duties that Russian suppliers have to pay in the U.S…..The current increase of duties allows us to compensate for only part of the damage amounting to $87.6 million. This is compensation that Russia has the right to recover under the WTO rules.”

Last year, the United States exported $7 billion worth of goods to Russia.