The US President has excluded Russia and Belarus from his “Liberation Day” tariffs war because the existing sanctions that have been imposed “preclude any meaningful trade,” the White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said.
Donald Trump imposed “reciprocal tariffs” globally causing world stock markets to tumble and the EU has been hit hard with higher levies.
Leavitt told Axios Minsk and Moscow are excluded from the sweeping tariffs as economic sanctions are in place amid Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, and Cuba and North Korea have also been left off the tariffs list.
The US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox News, “My advice to every country right now is do not retaliate. Sit back, take it in, let’s see how it goes.
“If you don’t retaliate, this is the high-water mark.”
Shockwaves hit global stock markets overnight and in early morning trading with heavy falls in Asia, London’s blue chip share index both tumbled.
The FTSE 100 Index sharply fell on Thursday morning as it dropped 122.4 points or 1.4% just after trading started.
Germany’s Dax and the French Cac 40 is down by over 2% following Donald Trump imposing 10% tariffs on British goods being imported into the US.
China’s Hang Seng is 1.5% lower and Japan’s Nikkei is down by almost 3% after President Trump announced hefty tariffs globally.
The S&P 500, Dow Jones and the Nasdaq screens are expected to open far lower with sharp declines.
Investors have flocked to the safe haven of gold which has hit new highs, the pound moved up against the US dollar.
