He emphasized that in the case of the United States, it should be noted that Ukrainian exports in 2024 reached $869 million, which accounts for 2.08% of total exports. The volume increased by 67% compared to 2023. This growth was primarily due to the fact that a significant portion of Ukrainian exports to the U.S. consists of metal, which has started to be transported by sea.
"At the same time, imports from the U.S. amounted to $3.4 billion, or 4.95% of all imports to Ukraine. This figure is substantial, dominated by security components and used vehicles. According to the logic of the U.S. president, Ukraine deserves tariff exemptions to balance trade. However, this is unlikely to be the most probable scenario. Nevertheless, there are chances for a pragmatic agreement with the U.S. regarding steel tariffs," Kachka emphasized.
He also pointed out that necessary measures to correlate trade flows are needed – for example, when the EU imposed protective measures on steel in response to Trump's tariffs, but these EU measures also affected Ukraine.
"Therefore, the main focus now is to maintain and develop relationships and remove tariffs with closer trading partners," Kachka concluded.