Thune hits brakes on Russia sanctions package
Still, they added: 'The goal is not more tariffs and sanctions — the goal is to entice Putin to come to the peace table.' Trump has already imposed a 10 percent tariff on imports from around the world, as well as additional tariffs on China since taking office, and has threatened a long list of other trading partners, including India and Brazil, with new 'reciprocal' tariffs to pressure them on a number of fronts.
Earlier this year, Trump said he would impose secondary tariffs of 25 percent on countries that import oil from Venezuela. So far, he has not followed through, raising questions about whether he made good on his latest threat if Putin does not budge.
Two-way U.S. trade with Russia has fallen sharply in recent years, from about $53 billion in 2021 to $5.5 billion last year, as a result of sanctions imposed by the Biden administration and Congress following Putin's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Those actions included banning imports of Russian oil and terminating 'permanent normal trade relations' with Moscow, effectively allowing Biden to raise tariffs on Russian goods to higher-than-normal levels.
The United States, working with allies, also imposed a series of export controls aimed at cutting off Russia's access to semiconductors and other technology items.
The United States imported just $2.5 billion worth of goods from Russia in 2024, compared to $23.3 billion in 2021. Most of that sharp drop reflected the U.S. ban on Russian oil, which previously accounted for about 60 percent of total imports from that country.
Fertilizers, an important commodity for American farmers, accounted for more than $1 billion of remaining imports from Russia last year, along with $877 million of platinum and $651 million of certain radioactive chemicals, according to the Commerce Department.
Jordain Carney contributed to this report.
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