US President Donald Trump followed through with doubling tariffs on India to 50% on Wednesday, to punish the country for importing Russian oil and helping Russia finance its war in Ukraine. But the United States and Europe themselves are still doing billions of dollars in trade with Russia – although that’s a fraction of the trade that took place before the war.
India has argued that it’s being unfairly targeted with the tariff increase, calling it “unjustified” given that other nations also do business with Moscow. Earlier this month, New Delhi signaled it would retaliate against the so-called “secondary tariffs.”
Trade between Russia and the US has fallen by about 90% since the Kremlin launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, but last year, the US still imported $3 billion worth of goods from Russia, according to the latest data from the US Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) and Census Bureau. Meanwhile, the European Union – which has been the Americans’ partner in sanctions against Russia – imported $41.9 billion (36 billion euros) of goods from Russia in 2024, data from the bloc’s statistics agency shows.
“It’s significant, but I think the more significant thing is how quickly the EU adjusted to reduce their dependency on Russia,” said Kimberly Donovan, director of the Economic Statecraft Initiative at the Atlantic Council, a DC-based think tank. “They’re making huge strides to further reduce how much they’re getting from (Russia).”
EU imports from Russia dropped by 86% between the first quarters of 2022 and 2025, according to Eurostat data. Some notable American-based holdouts continue to operate in Russia, including top 100 companies, according to lists compiled by the Yale School of Management and the Kyiv School of Economics Institute.
Dozens of European businesses, including consumer-facing brands, retailers and software companies, have also remained in Russia. The amount of tax revenue that Western companies generate for the Kremlin is relatively small, but analysts say the companies that remain have allowed aspects of normal life to continue for the Russian population.
Corporate exits serve to bring the war closer to the Russian people and confront their “complacency,” as well as make it more difficult for Putin to paint a picture of a well-functioning economy, said Yale School of Management’s Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, whose large team of researchers keeps track of which companies have left.
India’s imports of Russian oil and gas have skyrocketed since the war began. Russian oil now makes up 36% of the Indian market, according to Vortexa, an energy data firm, meaning it imports more crude oil from Russia than from anywhere else. China has also ramped up purchases of Russian crude oil following Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Its price fell after Western countries sharply scaled back their imports of Russian fuel. Russia now accounts for 13.5% of China’s crude imports, according to Vortexa.
Source: Here