New US Census Bureau data released Thursday showed that despite the United States imposing wide-ranging economic sanctions on Russia, the United States has been steadily increasing its import of Russian goods.

According to the report, the volume of products imported from Russia in August increased by $56.4 million over the previous month, to $298.1 million. The figure is still below the level of February, when the US imported $642.8 million – the highest amount in 2023.

At the same time, US exports to Russia have been steadily declining, dropping from $35.6 million in July to $32.1 million in August.

Following the raft of sanctions levied against the Kremlin by Washington in response to Russia’s military action in Ukraine, trade turnover fell sharply.

So far, Washington banned the import of Russian oil products, diamonds, and seafood, and placed tariffs on imported Russian steel, aluminum products, rubber, wood, and other goods. Since then, imports of ferrous metals to the US have fallen to nearly zero.