Even as Washington pressures New Delhi over Russian oil imports, American imports from Russia are quietly rising — growing 23 per cent year-on-year to $2.1 billion between January and May this year. The surge was led by sharp increases in imports of palladium (37 per cent), uranium (28 per cent), and fertilisers (21 per cent).
In 2024, two years after the Ukraine war began, US merchandise imports from Russia fell to $3 billion in customs value — 90 per cent lower than in 2021, the year before the conflict.
Still, key Russian goods continued to flow into the US in 2024. These include fertilisers ($1.1 billion), palladium ($878 million), uranium ($624 million), and aircraft engine parts ($75 million), according to US International Trade Commission (USITC) data.
Trade between Washington and Moscow has come under the spotlight after India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) called the “targeting of India” over Russian oil imports by the US and the EU “unjustified and unreasonable” in a statement on Monday.
“Where the United States is concerned, it continues to import from Russia uranium hexafluoride for its nuclear industry, palladium for its EV industry, fertilizers as well as chemicals,” the MEA said. The statement came hours after US President Donald Trump threatened to “substantially” raise tariffs on Indian exports for “buying massive amounts of Russian oil”, in addition to the 25 per cent “Liberation Day” tariff set to kick in from August 7.
Fertilisers, palladium now lead US imports from Russia
In 2021, the US imported goods worth around $30 billion from Russia. This halved to $14 billion in 2022, following the war in Ukraine that began in February that year. Imports then fell to $4.6 billion in 2023, before settling at $3 billion in 2024.
The main import in 2021 was crude oil, valued at over $17 billion, but that has since become negligible. By 2024, imports of fish and crustaceans, nickel, and lead had ceased entirely.
Around 90 per cent of US imports from Russia in 2024 comprised fertilisers (including urea and potassium chloride), palladium, and uranium. Compared to 2021, fertiliser imports in 2024 were down 8 per cent, palladium 45 per cent, and uranium just 3 per cent.
Palladium is a precious metal widely used in catalytic converters in internal combustion engine (ICE) and hybrid vehicles to reduce emissions, but it has limited use in fully electric vehicles (EVs).
Uranium imports rise despite curbs
At $806 million, US fertiliser imports from Russia between January and May 2025 were up 21 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) and 60 per cent higher than the $503 million imported during the same period in 2021.
Similarly, uranium imports rose by 28 per cent y-o-y to $596 million and surged 147 per cent compared to $241 million in January-May 2021.
Weeks after the Ukraine war began, Washington banned imports of Russian crude oil, liquefied natural gas, and coal. US investments in most Russian energy firms were also restricted. In 2024, America also barred imports of Russian enriched uranium — a key revenue source for Moscow. However, some US companies can apply for waivers until 2028, which partly explains the recent surge in uranium imports.
MEA defends oil imports, calls EU-Russia trade ‘revealing’
In its statement, the MEA said India began importing oil from Russia “because traditional supplies were diverted to Europe after the outbreak of the conflict”. “The United States at that time actively encouraged such imports by India for strengthening global energy markets stability,” the ministry said.
It asserted that India’s Russian oil imports are a “necessity compelled by global market situation”. “However, it is revealing that the very nations criticizing India are themselves indulging in trade with Russia. Unlike our case, such trade is not even a vital national compulsion,” the statement said.
With Russia, the EU’s bilateral trade in 2024 stood at 67.5 billion euros in goods and 17.2 billion euros in services, it added. “This is significantly more than India’s total trade with Russia that year or subsequently. European imports of LNG in 2024, in fact, reached a record 16.5 mn tonnes, surpassing the last record of 15.21 mn tonnes in 2022. Europe-Russia trade includes not just energy, but also fertilizers, mining products, chemicals, iron and steel and machinery and transport equipment,” the statement said.
The main import in 2021 was crude oil, valued at over $17 billion, but that has since become negligible. By 2024, imports of fish and crustaceans, nickel, and lead had ceased entirely. (File)
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