Russia, Ukraine Both Suffer Worst April In Two Decades For U.S. Trade

The economic impact of the Russian invasion on Ukraine can be seen in U.S. trade data released Tuesday.

Russia and Ukraine suffered their worst month of April for U.S. trade in 20 years, according to the latest U.S. Census Bureau data.

Although the Russian invasion began in the last week of February, April would be the first full month with robust Western sanctions against Russia in place and Black Sea freight either going to or from Ukraine throttled by Russia’s blockade.

Although U.S. trade generally declines in April when compared to the previous month, U.S. trade with Russia was down 23.73%. That is more than three times the rate of the overall U.S. decline with the world, which was 6.35%. U.S. trade with Ukraine was down more than nine times that, at 51.96%.

Neither Russia nor Ukraine are top U.S. trade partners. Russia ranked No. 31 in April, down from No. 23 the previous April while Ukraine ranked No. 88, down from No. 65.

Their U.S. trade is also quite different.

Russia-U.S. trade is dominated by imports, anywhere from 75% to 90% of total trade generally. In April, U.S. imports from Russia were down 24.16%, similar to the overall decline, as could be expected.

Almost half of those imports by value and two-third by tonnage is refined petroleum, a category which includes gasoline, jet fuel and other fuels. In the case of Russia, most of that is so-called “heavy fuel” or “bunker fuel” often associated with maritime use.

In 2021, Russia was the No. 1 importer into the United States of refined petroleum products, as it was in February of this year. Canada was No. 1 in January, March and April.

Ukraine’s trade with the United States is well balanced between exports and imports, with the United States generally running a slight trade surplus.

The primary exports to Ukraine by value tend to be passenger vehicles, coal, motor vehicle parts, frozen fish, medicines and, this year, munitions.

The primary imports from Ukraine tend to be pig iron, iron ore, sunflower oil, soybeans, seamless iron tubes and pipes.