Inside Kazakhstan is launching another new column,
INSIDE Data Visuals, where we turn raw data into visuals that speak.
Our opening edition
explores the effects of President Trump’s recently imposed tariffs on Kazakhstan’s exports to the United States. The Kazakhstani Ministry of Trade and Integration has indicated that tariffs apply to only 4.8% of exported goods, suggesting that the economy would be largely unaffected. While the Ministry’s statement provides a brief preliminary analysis, mentioning major goods covered by tariffs and those exempted [1], our visualization offers a closer look at goods categories, figures, and shares. But first, some context:
On April 2, 2025, as part of the “Liberation Day” trade policies, US President Donald Trump introduced a 10% tariff on all imports, excluding those from Russia, Belarus, Cuba, Canada, Mexico, and North Korea [2]. In addition, “reciprocal” tariffs were announced to be imposed starting July 8 on more than 50 countries [3], including Kazakhstan [4]. Although these tariffs were intended to apply universally, the White House specified a list of exempted goods [4].
Around the world, these tariffs have been criticized for being labeled “reciprocal,” with governments and experts disputing the White House’s assessment of foreign tariffs on US imports. In an interview with Euronews, economist Andrew Kenningham claims that the EU’s tariffs on the US account for around 3%, as opposed to the 39% stated by Trump [5]. Similarly, referring to Eurasian Economic Union policies [6], Kazakhstan's Ministry of Trade and Integration reported that US exports face tariffs of up to 10%, which sharply contrasts with the White House’s claims of 54% [7]. While these discrepancies may reflect a misunderstanding or miscalculation of trade data, the White House explains them by the use of a distinct methodology: their formula takes into account not just the tariffs other countries place on US goods, but also attempts to “balance bilateral trade deficits” [8]. Interestingly, in its statement on the tariffs, the Kazakhstani Ministry underscores its commitment to equal and non-discriminatory trade with the US, with respect to international obligations [1].
Despite being the only Central Asian state with additional reciprocal tariffs imposed [4], Kazakhstan’s exports to the US have few close substitutes, which is why the economy avoids major demand shocks. Nevertheless, given the EU economies’ susceptibility to global shifts and declining exports to the US, their potentially reduced demand for imports [9] raises uncertainty about President Tokayev’s plans to increase exports to the EU [10].
Spreadsheet with cleaned data: https://shorturl.at/k2PxBWant to know how we processed the data? See our Methodology and References: https://shorturl.at/PsRWw
