Trade with Russia has left its rank with the United States at a three-decade low. The United States has not imported … [+] oil or refined petroleum since April.
Russia now ranks as the US’s 39th most important trading partner, on track to drop lower than it has every year since 1992, shortly after it emerged from the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
It was the 40th most important trading partner of the United States that year.
Russian trade decreased by more than 10.7 billion dollars from the same eight months of 2021, according to the US Census Bureau data released last week.
That is more than six times the decrease of any country in the world. Russian imports to the United States account for $7.8 billion of that total.
Significantly, for the fourth month in a row, the United States has no imports in the refined petroleum category from Russia, nor of oil.
The broad refined petroleum category is particularly telling.
Russian imports of refined petroleum products decreased from 21% in 2021, the highest percentage in … [+] the world, to 8% this year, Most of that fuel is bunker fuel.
In 2021, Russia was the United States’ top source in the category, providing 21% of the total value. To date, it remains at 8%. In the case of Russia, the refined petroleum was largely so-called “bunker fuel”, an inferior fuel often used in maritime craft.
In 2021, Russia accounted for 3.5% of US oil imports. It’s the light green square at the top and … [+] in the middle.
In 2022, through August, US imports of oil from Russia decreased to 0.37% – the light green … [+] square towards the bottom on the right.
Historically, Russia has not been a particularly large supplier of US oil. Nevertheless, the United States will import 3.5% of its oil from there in 2021, a percentage that has fallen to 0.37% to date and, as mentioned, to zero in the last four months.
Refined petroleum imports to the United States are important to Russia and President Putin, or they should be.
US imports from Russia of oil and refined petroleum accounted for 59% of the value of all its … [+] imports in 2021.
In 2021, refined petroleum imports – again, largely bunker fuel – accounted for 43% of the value of all US imports from Russia, nearly 60% of the tonnage. By August of this year, the percentage is down to 38% of value and 62% of tonnage.
But Russia’s economy, and certainly its export economy, depends on buyers for its oil, gas and natural gas. With the United States and much of Western Europe limiting their petroleum-based trade with Russia – leading to higher prices at the pump and a major factor in inflation – China and India have stepped into the breach.
In August, without oil and refined petroleum, Russia’s largest import of value were radioactive elements, ferroalloys and fertilizers, for almost 64% of the total account. By tonnage, two primary fertilizer categories, nitrogen and potassium, accounted for more than 74% of the total.
Nevertheless, even without these petroleum-based imports, US trade with Russia is less balanced. In 2021, 82% of all trade with Russia was US imports. So far this year, that total has dropped to 10%. The US total is 38% exports and 62% imports.
In case you’re curious, US trade with Ukraine is another matter.
For the fifth year in a row — and the only five years ever — U.S. trade with Ukraine, while nearly 21% from the record pace last year, rose $2 billion through August.
