Finance
NewsOnScale Staff
October 9, 2026
The US trade deficit jumped significantly this month, meaning the United States imported far more than it exported. The number landed the same week Trump announced a deal to buy Russian diesel — a purchase that will add to the deficit going forward.
The trade deficit was one of Trump's signature campaign issues. Tariffs were the solution. Make imports more expensive, encourage buying American, bring manufacturing home. That was the argument.
The tariffs have been in place for 21 months. The trade deficit just jumped.
There are a few reasons this happens. Importers sometimes front-load purchases before new tariffs kick in, temporarily spiking the deficit. A slowing economy shifts consumer behavior in ways that affect trade patterns. And when the US is buying oil and gas from abroad rather than producing enough domestically, energy imports drive the gap wider.
Which brings us to today's announcement.
Trump struck a deal with Vladimir Putin to import Russian diesel to combat rising fuel prices ahead of the November midterms. The United States, which sanctioned Russian energy following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, will now buy Russian fuel.
Every barrel of Russian diesel the US imports adds to the trade deficit Trump campaigned on eliminating. The deal that is supposed to lower fuel prices before Election Day will simultaneously worsen the economic metric Trump used to justify his entire trade policy.
The tariffs were supposed to make America less dependent on foreign goods. The Russia diesel deal is the administration buying fuel from an adversary nation to fix a problem its own policies helped create.
The trade deficit jumped. The Russia deal will make it jump further.
The midterms are four weeks away.
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