Originally published July 6, 2023 10:30 am PDT
Data from the U.S. Census Bureau reveals a significant increase in American imports from Russia, with the figures more than doubling to a considerable $504 million in May.
This significant upswing contrasts with April’s import figures, which were valued at a considerably lower $215.6 million.
In comparison, February marked a record high for the year 2023, with the United States purchasing an impressive $642.8 million worth of goods from Russia.
However, the trading landscape looks quite different when examining American exports to Russia.
These figures have been following a downward trajectory.
In May, exports were valued at a modest $60 million, showing a decrease from April’s figure of $65.2 million and March’s $66.4 million.
This trend seems to have been in effect since the beginning of the year, with January’s exports totaling just $44.6 million.
The Biden administration has imposed sanctions against Russia over its military operation in Ukraine, raising questions about their success in light of the new numbers from the Census Bureau.
“Responsible nations have to come together to hold these perpetrators accountable,” Biden told a Washington crowd in April 2022. “We will keep raising the economic cost and ratchet up the pain for Putin and further increase Russia’s economic isolation.”
Marking the one-year anniversary of Russia’s incursion into Ukraine, Biden claimed in Feb of this year that Russian President Vladimir Putin “is confronted with something today that he didn’t think was possible a year ago. The democracies of the world have grown stronger, not weaker. But the autocrats in the world have gotten weaker, not stronger.”
