Russian Embassy shares meme after exclusion from Donald Trump's tariff list. Elon Musk reacts

The reason for Russia’s exemption from the Donald Trump administration’s latest tariffs lies in the sanctions already in place against the country.

While nations across the globe braced for the economic aftershocks of former US President Donald Trump’s renewed tariff policies, Russia stood out as one of the few countries to escape the sweeping trade levies. Despite reciprocal tariffs being imposed on 180 nations, Russia remained untouched—a development that drew both geopolitical interest and social media reaction.

The Russian Embassy in Kenya capitalised on the moment by posting a meme on X (formerly Twitter), depicting the global fallout of Trump’s tariffs. The widely circulated image showed several countries embroiled in conflict over the trade war, while Russia appeared unaffected, relaxing as an observer to the chaos. The post was captioned simply: “Tariff wars.”

The meme struck a chord online and attracted a response from Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, who replied with a laughing emoji.

Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 9, 2025

The reason for Russia’s exemption from the Trump administration’s latest tariffs lies in the sanctions already in place against the country. US officials explained that existing measures—imposed after Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine—had already slashed trade volumes, making further levies redundant.

Speaking on behalf of the administration, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt initially justified Russia’s exclusion by citing the steep drop in trade. According to data released by the Office of the US Trade Representative, bilateral trade between the US and Russia fell dramatically, from $35 billion in 2021 to $3.5 billion in 2024, representing a nearly 90% decline.

“There was no meaningful trade left to target,” said Bessent, implying that additional tariffs would be symbolically redundant rather than economically impactful.

However, the White House later appeared to pivot its rationale. On April 6, Kevin Hassett, Director of the National Economic Council, suggested that imposing fresh tariffs could interfere with ongoing peace negotiations involving the United States, Russia, and Ukraine.

The issue gained added complexity given Trump’s recent rhetoric. The former president has threatened to escalate sanctions on Russian oil unless Moscow halts its military operations in Ukraine.

Russia was not alone in its exemption. Canada and Mexico, the US’s largest trading partners, were also left off Trump’s tariff list. Additionally, Cuba, Belarus, and North Korea escaped new levies due to pre-existing high tariffs and sanctions, similar to Russia’s position.