Sweden: 20% Ukraine: 10% Russia: 0%

Trump's tariffs

Expert: "Russia's zero percent tariffs stand out"

Joachim Kerpner

Updated 13.16 | Published 13.09

Russia had a trade surplus of 25 billion kronor with the US in 2024.

With Trump's way of calculating, the country should have been hit with 40 percent tariffs - but escaped completely.

- It stands out, says Russia expert Malcolm Dixelius.

Quick version

• Russia had a trade surplus of 25 billion kronor with the US in 2024 but nevertheless escaped tariffs from the Trump administration.
• Russia expert Malcolm Dixelius believes that the exemptions in the tariffs signal Trump's strategy to support Russia in the peace negotiations rather than punish them.
• The Trump administration's tariffs were higher for China and other countries, which also indicates an American strategy to separate Russia and China.

This week, the US imposed 20 percent tariffs on the EU and Sweden. But Russia was not on Trump's agenda.

The White House press secretary claimed that tariffs were not needed because the sanctions against Russia make meaningful trade between the countries impossible.

Now, The Economist magazine has concluded that Russia sold goods to the US for approximately SEK 30 billion and had a trade surplus with the country of SEK 25 billion in 2024.

This should have resulted in tariffs of 40 percent, but they did not. At the same time, Botswana – which exported one-sixth as many goods to the US as Russia – received tariffs of 38 percent, the newspaper notes.

Russia expert Malcolm Dixelius believes that this shows that Trump has a "soft spot" for Russia:

- The fact that Russia is not on the list of countries affected by tariffs stands out. Trump is trying to get Russia to the negotiating table more with carrots than sticks. In contrast, Ukraine received tariffs of ten percent. This is another sign that Trump sees Ukraine as the weaker and more uninteresting party in the peace negotiations, says Dixelius.

He is also not surprised that Belarus, Cuba and North Korea – three authoritarian countries with close ties to Russia – also escaped Trump's tariffs.

– It is to satisfy Putin. The pattern is that it is important to get Russia to the negotiating table, says Dixelius.

Russia expert Malcolm Dixelius.

In the same way, but in reverse, he believes that China, which was hit by a 34 percent tariff slap, was also punished by countries such as Cambodia and Vietnam – with a lot of Chinese-owned industry – receiving high tariffs.

– It is part of the American strategy to separate Russia and China. Trump is nice to Russia, mean to China, says Dixelius.

He believes that the peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, led by the US, have stalled, which partly explains the tariff package:

– The tariff increases were part of getting, as Trump hoped, positive attention that would remove the failures of the peace negotiations from the agenda. But Trump has not let go of this with Russia, somehow the peace negotiations must end in his favor.

What grade do you give Trump as a peace negotiator between Russia and och Ukraine?

– I quote our former Foreign Minister and Prime Minister Carl Bildt who says “fucking amateurs”. Trump cannot negotiate with Russia, as he thinks he can. And he lacks a moral compass. He takes absolutely no account of Ukraine’s legitimate demands as the attacked country. It’s all about transactions and what can give the US a long-term advantage, says Malcolm Dixelius.