RUSSIA said Friday it was imposing additional import duties on some U.S. industrial goods after the United States slapped tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, and warned that more retaliatory steps could be in the pipeline.

The country’s economy ministry said Russia would impose extra tariffs on some goods from the United States for which there are Russian-made substitutes.

The extra duties of 25 to 40 percent will apply to imports of fiber-optics and equipment for road construction, the oil and gas industries and metal processing and mining.

The U.S. move stems from a decision by President Donald Trump in March to charge Russia, and also Canada, the European Union, Mexico and others, more money to sell steel and aluminum to the United States for “national security” reasons.

Russia said the measures, signed by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, were intended to compensate for US$87.6 million of damage suffered by Russian export-focused companies as a result of the U.S. metals tariffs.

The U.S. tariff hike will cost an overall US$537.6 million and Russia has the right to impose more compensatory measures in the future, the ministry said.

Import duties on U.S. road-building machinery could help Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, who was hit by U.S. sanctions and controls GAZ, Russia’s biggest maker of road-building equipment.

Deripaska has already asked the Russian state to purchase some output from his aluminum company RUSAL in an effort to alleviate the pain inflicted by U.S. sanctions.

Other nations have already responded to Trump’s aluminum and steel tariffs, as Canada has revealed a list of 79 items under tariffs, while the EU has put tariffs on products such as tobacco, motorcycles, cranberries and peanut butter.(SD-Agencies)