Russia-U.S. trade in 2019 expected not to change year-on-year - trade rep
IZHEVSK. July 11 (Interfax) - The trade turnover between Russia and the United States in 2019 is expected to show no change from 2018, said Russia's acting trade representative to the U.S. Israfil Ali-Zade.
"[The level of trade will be] just the same. For now, especially in light of sanctions, markets are stagnating a bit," Ali-Zade told journalists during a working trip to Udmurtia on Thursday.
"In general, things have more or less stabilized in recent years. That is, there are no big jumps," he said.
Trade between the countries totals more than $20 billion per year, down from $40 billion before sanctions were introduced.
"Right now we can say that the U.S. is de facto significantly increasing its exports to Russia. That's the tendency of recent years," Ali-Zade said.
He added that since it is difficult for Russia to introduce new "massive products" to the U.S. market, the trade representation is working to prevent exports of a number of goods from decreasing, including steel and chemical products.
According to the Federal Customs Service, trade between Russia and the U.S. totaled $11.1 billion in 5M, a year-on-year increase of 21.1%. In 2018, trade increased 7.9% to $25 billion.