Russian economy Minister: Trump tariff has cost Russia $600 million

SMM, Sept. 25: the Trump administration's tariffs on imports of aluminum and steel have so far caused a total of $600m in damage to the Russian economy, according to government estimates. Russia's economic development minister, Maxim Oreshkin, revealed an assessment of the losses in an interview with state media last week.

The Trump administration, backed by Section 232 of the Trade expansion Act of 1962, imposed tariffs on all imports of aluminum and steel earlier this year after nearly a year of investigation by the U.S. Department of Commerce. Under this rarely used rule, the survey found that low-cost imports of aluminum and steel pose a threat to the national security of the United States because such imports make it economically impossible for domestic metal producers to produce certain special alloys.

Although a small number of countries have been granted temporary and / or permanent exemptions from tariffs, Russia has never been one of them. Since then, the Russian government has joined a long list of countries seeking relief from the World Trade Organization, claiming that tariffs are essentially protectionist, not for national defense purposes.

Oreshkin pointed out that the first round of negotiations between the WTO and US trade officials has begun, but the negotiations have not yielded any results. In addition to complaints to the WTO, Moscow has imposed retaliatory tariffs on certain US imports, such as road construction machinery, oil and gas equipment and optical fiber, ranging from 25 per cent to 40 per cent.

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