What Does Louisiana Import From Russia That You Can Stop Using?
Last week's Russian of Ukraine has caused outrage in many western nations, and not only at governmental levels. In many spots across the USA Russian military move has even prompted some bars and liquor stores to pull Russian vodka off their shelves and promote Ukrainian brands in their place.
But what about here in Louisiana? What goods does the Pelican State import from that part of the world that, if inclined, we could stop? The previously mentioned vodka? Check. Oil? Yep, but not directly. And...as it turns out, not much else.
According to US government numbers, Russia is 20th on the list of the largest suppliers of goods. And in terms of dollars, that comes out to be about $22 billion worth of goods annually. Sound like a lot? Well, it's not.
When you look at the United States’s biggest trade partners - China, Mexico, Canada, Japan and German - that $22 billion starts to look like nothing at all.
Here are the stats: China, $450 billion in imports. Add another $360 billion from Mexico. Then throw in another $330 billion from Canada, almost $150 billion from Japan and another $130 billion from Germany.
So, back to Russia and its vodka and its oil. Changing from Russian Stolichnaya to French-made Grey Goose - or Louisiana's own JT Melick - is simple enough. But Russian oil? Well, that's not so simple.
US imports of Russian oil is just about $13 billion every year, which works out to be more than 17 million barrels. Now, though that may sound like a lot, but in the scheme of US petroleum imports, it's only 7%. That's the good news. And here's the bad. Because of the (purposeful) production shortage of oil worldwide, anything that upsets an already nervous market can have disastrous results.
Other items topping the list of imports from Russia include precious metals and stone ($2.2 billion), iron and steel products ($1.4 billion), fertilizers ($1 billion) and agricultural products ($760 million).