$2,080,300,000: U.S. Ran Record February Trade Deficit With Russia

$2,080,300,000: U.S. Ran Record February Trade Deficit With Russia

(CNSNews.com) - The United States ran a record February merchandise trade deficit of $2,080,300,000 with Russia, according to newly released numbers from the Census Bureau.

Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine on February 24.

During this February, according to the Census Bureau, the United States exported $497,500,000 in goods to Russia and imported $2,577,800,000 in good from Russia—resulting in a trade deficit of $2,080,300,000.

That is the largest trade deficit the United States has ever run with Russia in the month of February. (The Census Bureau has published monthly U.S.-Russia trade numbers going back to 1992, the year after the collapse of the Soviet Union.).

Prior to this year, the largest trade deficit the United States ran with Russia during the month of February occurred in February 2012, when the U.S. trade deficit with Russia was $1,701,580,000 (in constant February 2022 dollars).

The third largest trade deficit the United States ran with Russia in the month of February occurred in February 2020, when it was $1,549,990,000 (in constant February 2022 dollars).

This year’s February U.S.-Russia trade deficit of $2,080,200,000 was $872,580,000—or 72.3 percent—more than last year’s February U.S.-Russia trade deficit of $1,207,720,000 (in constant February 2022 dollars).

The $2,577,800,000 in Russian goods that the United States imported this February was the most the United States has imported from Russian in February since 2012, when U.S. imports from Russia hit a February record of $2,876,500,000 (in constant February 2022 dollars).

According to a timeline published by the Peterson Institute for International Economics, the Biden Administration imposed its first Ukraine-war-related sanctions on Russia on Feb. 21, 2022.

“In response to Putin’s decrees, the Biden administration issues an Executive Order (EO 14065) stopping new U.S. investment in, U.S. exports to, or U.S. imports from the regions,” says the PIIE timeline.

According to the PIIE timeline, it was not until March 8 that the United States banned Russian oil imports.

“Despite a sharp increase in energy prices, the Biden administration issues an Executive Order (EO 14066) banning imports of Russian oil, liquefied natural gas, and coal,” says the timeline.

In 2021, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the United States imported an average of 624,000 barrels per day of Russian crude oil and petroleum products—which set an annual record for U.S. imports of Russian petroleum imports.

During 2021, according to data published by the Census Bureau, the top four U.S. imports from Russia were fuel oil ($10,265,587,048); crude oil ($4,714,801,618); other precious metals ($2,594,065,110) and petroleum products, other ($2,528,835,662).

(Historical dollar numbers in this column have been adjusted into constant February 2022 dollars using the Bureau of Labor Statistics Inflation Calculator.)