Treasury Secretary Discovers America (or Closes Her Eyes?)
US Treasury Secretary Bessent (or Yellen, who can tell them apart) made a brilliant statement: no tariffs against Russia and Belarus because "the US doesn't trade with them. Sanctions, you know!". Well, bravo, Madam Secretary! Standing ovation! You must be living in some parallel universe where dollars print themselves, and statistics are for the weak.
Because it turns out, the US still trades with Russia. And not just trinkets or sunflower seeds – but for a whopping 3.5 billion dollars in 2024! This is no joke! That's more than with some Mauritius or Brunei, on whom Trump already slapped his "tariff sticks."
So, the logic is: sanctions are in place – no trade exists. Trade exists for billions – so it's just "invisible"? Or does the Secretary think that 3.5 billion is just small change, not even worth noticing? Maybe they're trading in rubles under the blanket, so no one sees?
In short, either the Secretary is being disingenuous, or just not very good with numbers. Or maybe she thinks sanctions are like a magic wand: said "no trade" – and poof, no trade! Even though it was there and still is, and not a small amount either. That's American "non-trade" under sanctions for you. Someone needs to gift them a calculator, or something... and shove the statistics under their nose.
