10% US tariff will hit small producers hardest, but efforts are underway to improve conditions, says Ukrainian vice-premier

First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Yulia Svyrydenko described the increase in US duties on Ukrainian goods as a difficult but not critical situation, noting that the main blow will fall on small businesses.

“If the circumstances remain unchanged, the universal US tariff will primarily affect small companies. Therefore, we are already working to create more favorable conditions for Ukraine. We export more than 600 different categories of goods to the US – from specialized products to everyday tools such as wrenches. Of these, 65 categories of goods have an annual export volume exceeding $ 1 million,” Sviridenko wrote on Facebook on Thursday.

She specified that a general tariff of 10% will apply to Ukraine, unlike Moldova (31%) or the European Union (20%), which face higher rates.

In 2024, Ukraine's exports to the United States amounted to $874 million, of which $363 million were cast iron and $112 million were pipes. At the same time, Ukraine imported goods from the United States worth $3.4 billion. Tariffs on American products in Ukraine remain relatively low – 10% on cars and 0% on coal and oil.

“This means that we have a real opportunity to negotiate better conditions, since the U.S. statement directly recognizes this opportunity,” Svyrydenko said, adding that Ukraine, as a reliable ally and partner, has a lot to offer the United States, stressing that fair tariffs would benefit both countries.

According to an announcement on the White House website on the evening of April 2-3, US President Donald Trump has decided to invoke the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977 (IEEPA) to impose a 10% tariff on all countries, effective April 5, 2025, at 12:01 p.m. Notably, Russia is absent from the published tariff schedules, although no explanation was provided for this.