As of August 2022, Russia was earning more than $1 billion per month from trading with the United States, despite sanctions imposed on Russia due to its military engagement in Ukraine. The Associated Press reports that more than 3,600 shipments of wood, metals, rubber, and other goods have been imported from Russia to the U.S. since the end of February. Although this is almost half of the amount during the same period in 2021, it still totals more than $1 billion per month. Wood is the largest commodity item imported from Russia (1294 shipments), followed by metals (909 shipments), food (341 shipments), oil and gas (209 shipments), rubber (179 shipments), fertilizers (102 shipments), spare parts (67 shipments), radioactive materials, and ammunition (47 each).

Jim O’Brien, who heads the U.S. State Department’s Sanctions Coordination Office, has stated that it is impossible to completely block trade with Russia, as this could negatively affect global trade. Additionally, sanctions against Russia could harm the U.S. more than Russia in some cases. Confusion regarding the sanctions imposed by the U.S., UK, and EU has also led to some Russian companies continuing to trade with U.S. and European firms, including a company that supplies metal to the Russian defense industry.

Some of the imported Russian goods are clearly legal and even encouraged by the Joe Biden administration. For instance, more than 100 batches of fertilizers have arrived in the U.S. since the beginning of the military conflict in Ukraine. Prohibited products, such as Russian oil and gas, continued to flow into U.S. ports long after the sanctions were announced due to periods of wind-down that allowed companies to honor existing contracts.