Trump Wants More Trade With Russia But Less With Everyone Else

Donald Trump displays his signature on an executive order on reciprocal tariffs in the Oval Office ... More of the White House on February 13, 2025. Trump wants to increase trade with Russia while imposing tariffs to reduce trade with other nations. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)
AFP via Getty Images
Donald Trump wants to increase trade with Russia while imposing tariffs to reduce trade with other nations. Economists say Canada, Mexico and Europe offer many more business opportunities than Russia. They question whether Trump’s policy of imposing tariffs to reduce trade deficits with other countries is a sensible goal. Ironically, for years, the United States has run a large trade deficit with Russia, the country Trump wants to embrace the most.
More Tariffs And Less Trade
On March 27, 2025, the Trump administration imposed a 25% tariff on auto imports that could raise the average price of a new car by $3,000 to $12,500. While these are the latest tariffs, more are expected.
“Mr. Trump wants every car sold in America to be made in America, all 16 million a year,” according to the Wall Street Journal editorial. “Even if this goal were economically rational, it would take many years and hundreds of billions of dollars in new investment.” The Journal notes that auto companies have invested billions in supply chains, including a well-integrated system involving the private sector in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. “They will now have to spend hundreds of billions more that could be invested in more productive ways. And all because Mr. Trump has an economic development model based on the fantasy of ‘import substitution.’ That model kept India poor for decades.”
Even before the action against auto imports, the Trump administration imposed tariffs on approximately $800 billion of goods, with more tariffs scheduled to begin on April 2. “Tariffs laid down by the Trump administration are meant to boost some domestic industries and extract concessions from other countries,” reported the Washington Post. “But economists say that the new taxes may drive up consumer prices and threaten key American industries. Retaliatory tariffs from targeted countries like Canada and China could impact millions of jobs in the U.S.”
Trump’s tariffs and trade rhetoric have generated a wave of anti-American sentiment across Canada and Europe. Before professional sporting events, Canadians have booed during the U.S. national anthem, an unprecedented action.