What Do We Import From Russia

1. What Does the US Import From Russia - Executive Overview

The United States imported approximately $3.0 billion in goods from Russia in 2024, according to data published by the US Census Bureau Foreign Trade division (census.gov/foreign-trade/balance/c4621.html). This figure represents a dramatic contraction from the pre-sanctions bilateral trade volume, which exceeded $29 billion in 2021. According to the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), total US-Russia goods and services trade reached an estimated $5.9 billion in 2025, up 14.4 percent ($738.4 million) from 2024 - signaling that the post-sanctions baseline has stabilized and certain non-sanctioned commodity flows are actually expanding. UN COMTRADE data cited by Trading Economics shows US imports from Russia at $4.05 billion during 2025, reflecting differences in methodology and coverage between Census Bureau and UN statistical frameworks.

The contemporary US-Russia import relationship is fundamentally structured by the sanctions regime implemented following Russia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Executive Orders 14066, 14068, and subsequent presidential actions eliminated approximately 60 percent of historical US import value from Russia by banning crude oil, refined petroleum products, natural gas, coal, seafood, alcoholic beverages, and non-industrial diamonds. The Progressive Policy Institute reports that US imports from Russia are up nearly 30 percent in 2025 and could reach close to $5 billion by year-end - driven primarily by sustained fertilizers, enriched uranium, and select metals demand that is not covered by sanctions. The remaining import basket is concentrated in a narrow set of industrial inputs, with fertilizers and enriched uranium alone accounting for the bulk of total import value.

2. Top Commodity Imports and HS Code Classification

The post-sanctions US import basket from Russia is concentrated in five primary HS (Harmonized System) chapter categories. According to TradeImex trade data analysis, the top commodity import category is fertilizers (HS Chapter 31) at approximately $1.79 billion, representing more than half of total remaining imports by value. This category includes nitrogen-based fertilizers (urea, ammonium nitrate), phosphate fertilizers, and potash - critical inputs for US agriculture that have not been sanctioned and continue to flow under general licenses from OFAC. The second-largest category is enriched uranium and nuclear materials, classified under HS Chapter 28 (inorganic chemicals) and tracked separately by the US Department of Energy and Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

The remaining import categories include industrial metals such as titanium sponge (HS Chapter 81), aluminum and aluminum products (HS Chapter 76), and select nickel and copper products. Precious metals and stones (HS Chapter 71), excluding sanctioned non-industrial diamonds, continue to enter the US market. Chemical products under HS Chapters 28, 29, and 38 - including specialty industrial chemicals not subject to sanctions - round out the top import categories. Each HS code is rigorously tracked by the US Census Bureau through the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) and published in monthly trade statistics releases.

3. Fertilizers (HS Chapter 31) - The Largest Remaining Category

Fertilizers represent the single largest remaining US import category from Russia, with an estimated annual value of $1.79 billion according to TradeImex data. Russia is one of the world's largest producers and exporters of fertilizers, particularly nitrogen-based fertilizers (urea, ammonium nitrate, ammonia), potash (potassium chloride), and phosphate-based fertilizers. US agricultural producers - particularly corn, wheat, soybean, and cotton farmers in the Midwest and South - rely on imported fertilizers to maintain competitive yields. The Biden and subsequent administrations have repeatedly exempted Russian fertilizer imports from sanctions, recognizing the inflationary impact that a ban would have on US food prices and global food security.

The fertilizer trade flow operates under a structured framework that includes OFAC general licenses, the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) sanctions exemptions, and USDA monitoring of supply chain continuity. Major US fertilizer importers - including CF Industries, Nutrien, Yara North America, and other regional distributors - maintain established supply contracts with Russian producers such as EuroChem, PhosAgro, and Uralchem. The HS Chapter 31 subheadings most active in US-Russia trade include HS 3102 (mineral or chemical fertilizers, nitrogenous), HS 3103 (mineral or chemical fertilizers, phosphatic), and HS 3104 (mineral or chemical fertilizers, potassic). The US International Trade Commission (USITC) tracks these imports at the 10-digit statistical suffix level in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS).

4. Enriched Uranium and Nuclear Materials

The second-largest US import category from Russia is enriched uranium and nuclear materials, with Reuters reporting approximately $624 million in 2024 imports of enriched uranium and plutonium from Russia, down from $646 million in 2021. Russia's state-owned Rosatom, through its subsidiary Tenex, is one of the world's primary suppliers of enriched uranium for commercial nuclear power generation. US nuclear power plants - which generate approximately 20 percent of US electricity - have historically relied on Russian enriched uranium for approximately 20-25 percent of their fuel requirements, with the remainder supplied by domestic enrichment (Urenco USA, Centrus Energy) and imports from allies such as France (Orano) and the UK (Urenco).

The continued import of Russian enriched uranium is governed by the Russian Suspension Agreement, a 1992 trade agreement between the US Department of Commerce and the Russian Federation that established a framework for Russian uranium exports to the US market. The 2024 passage of the Prohibiting Russian Uranium Imports Act established a statutory framework to phase out Russian enriched uranium imports by 2028, with waivers available through 2027 for cases where alternative supplies are not commercially available. The US Department of Energy has allocated approximately $3.4 billion in Inflation Reduction Act funding to expand domestic uranium enrichment capacity, particularly at the Urenco USA facility in Eunice, New Mexico, and the Centrus Energy demonstration cascade in Piketon, Ohio.

5. Sanctions Regime - What Is Banned From Import

The US sanctions regime on Russian imports is implemented through a series of executive orders and statutory measures. Executive Order 14066 (March 8, 2022) banned the importation of Russian crude oil, refined petroleum products, natural gas, and coal into the United States. According to WTTW News reporting, this single measure cut off approximately 60 percent of US imports from Russia by value, fundamentally restructuring the bilateral trade relationship. The oil ban took effect on April 22, 2022, with limited wind-down provisions for contracts entered into before March 8, 2022.

Executive Order 14068 (March 11, 2022) extended the import ban to cover Russian fish, seafood, and preparations thereof; alcoholic beverages (most notably Russian vodka); and non-industrial diamonds. According to OFAC FAQ 1024, these prohibitions apply to all Russian-origin goods in the specified categories, regardless of the country of export. A December 2023 executive order further expanded the seafood ban to include Russian-origin seafood processed in third countries - closing a loophole that had allowed Russian-caught seafood (particularly pollock, salmon, and crab) to be processed in China and re-exported to the United States as Chinese-origin product. The Alaska Beacon reported that this measure significantly impacted the pollock and crab supply chains that had previously routed Russian catch through Chinese processing facilities.

Additional sanctions measures include the revocation of Russia's Most Favored Nation (MFN) trade status in March 2022, which subjected Russian imports to Column 2 tariff rates under the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930. This change increased applicable tariff rates on Russian goods from an average of approximately 3 percent to an average of approximately 20 percent. Combined with the Section 232 tariffs on steel (25 percent) and aluminum (10 percent) that were already in place, the effective tariff burden on remaining Russian imports is substantial. Importers must also comply with the Foreign Direct Product Rule, which extends US export controls to foreign-made items produced using US-origin technology, software, or equipment.

6. Trade Data Sources and OSINT Methodology

This analysis integrates open-source intelligence (OSINT) from multiple authoritative US government and international databases. The US Census Bureau Foreign Trade division (census.gov/foreign-trade) publishes monthly and annual trade statistics by country and commodity at the HS 10-digit level, with the Russia-specific balance sheet available at census.gov/foreign-trade/balance/c4621.html. The Bureau of Economic Analysis (bea.gov) provides broader trade in goods and services data, including services trade that supplements the goods-only Census Bureau figures. The Office of the United States Trade Representative (ustr.gov) publishes annual country trade summary reports that integrate goods, services, and policy context.

For researchers and trade intelligence professionals, the FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) platform (fred.stlouisfed.org) provides time-series data on US imports from Russia (series IMP4621) that can be downloaded for econometric analysis. The UN COMTRADE database (comtrade.un.org) offers bilateral trade flows from both US-reported and Russia-reported perspectives, with reconciliation analysis revealing classification and valuation differences. For granular bill of lading data at the transaction level - including importer names, shipment weights, ports of entry, and vessel information - commercial trade intelligence providers such as TurkExim aggregate and enrich customs filings that are otherwise distributed across multiple federal systems. Sanctions screening should be conducted against the OFAC SDN list and the BIS Entity List, both of which are updated on a rolling basis.

7. Frequently Asked Questions