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If Trump really does become buddy-buddy with Putin like he's promising, can we expect a ton of new trade with Russia? Can we expect a massive influx of Russian business and tourism? Conversely, would there be several American corporations expanding into Russia? I would imagine that both Trump and Putin would promote economic integration heavily. (I would also expect that friendlier relations with the U.S. would inevitably result in more Russian influence across Europe, whether the Europeans like it or not.) One of the reasons I'm curious about this is that I'm considering learning a foreign language; either Russian or German. I can see a lot arguments for both languages. Both are consistently listed as valuable business languages but this would tip the scales in favor of Russian.
If Trump really does become buddy-buddy with Putin like he's promising, can we expect a ton of new trade with Russia?
I'm not seeing anything big. I would not expect trade to surpass that of China.
Quote:
Originally Posted by slapshotbob99
One of the reasons I'm curious about this is that I'm considering learning a foreign language; either Russian or German. I can see a lot arguments for both languages. Both are consistently listed as valuable business languages but this would tip the scales in favor of Russian.
Give Russian a shot. It's widely spoken outside Russia in Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova etc etc etc, and it would make learning Western Slavic (Polish eg) and South Slavic (Serbian eg) languages easier.
Not much. Save for a few niche market products, Russia's durable goods, while better than they used to be, are not up to standards you can get natively, from the EU, or from Chinese manufacturers with good quality control. And it's far easier for the Russians to buy from Germany or China than it is to buy American. The new Russian money class, while willing to buy businesses abroad, has incentives to not get too heavily into American financial markets because the laws and regulations in America make those banks ask too many questions about where the money came from.
Russian tourists- the majority are all about the cheap package tours to sunny places. You cannot compete with charter packages to Crimea/Egypt/Tunisia/Greece/Croatia on price. The ones with money to shop are already more likely to go to London or Paris. (I once watched a Russian young woman drop about two thousand pounds in the lingerie department of Selfridges in London and she already had many shopping bags from other parts of the store)
Their natural gas is tied up in contracts to power large chunks of Europe, and we can get oil easier form other foreign and domestic sources.
And in terms of job prospects, if you hook up with an international company, the quality of life is infinitely better in Berlin or Munich than it would be in the big Russian trade cities. There are also a lot more longstanding trade links and business partnerships between Germany and the USA than there are USA-Russia.
If Trump really does become buddy-buddy with Putin like he's promising, can we expect a ton of new trade with Russia? Can we expect a massive influx of Russian business and tourism? Conversely, would there be several American corporations expanding into Russia? I would imagine that both Trump and Putin would promote economic integration heavily. (I would also expect that friendlier relations with the U.S. would inevitably result in more Russian influence across Europe, whether the Europeans like it or not.) One of the reasons I'm curious about this is that I'm considering learning a foreign language; either Russian or German. I can see a lot arguments for both languages. Both are consistently listed as valuable business languages but this would tip the scales in favor of Russian.
This depends on the private sector, not just public policy. Impossible to predict.
I don't see Russia becoming a major trade partner with the US. The trade might grow, but I doubt they break the top 10 anytime soon. I foresee other developing countries surpassing Russia.
Russia is a most excellent weapons manufacturer and exporter (the Kalashnikov is a very well designed and useful gun prized the world over) but that's an area with very clear 'Buy American' rules in place for mass purchases.
I see far more trade potential with growing South American countries that seem to be making progress toward getting their act together (Colombia, even post-Kirchner Argentina, possibly Peru) than I do from a Russia with shrinking population, infrastructure issues, and all kinds of legal barriers to entry in assorted fields that no American president is going to be able to crack.
The Trump-Putin bromance is different than a US-Russia economic alliance. Putin and Trump are in it for themselves and their cronies. This has nothing to do with benefiting the everyday citizen.
American corporations expanding into Russia. I seriously doubt it. Putin just managed to clean the US charitable foundations and other non-profits out of Russia, accusing them of being foreign agents with anti-Russian (or anti-him) agendas. He's not going to warm up the Welcome Wagon for more Foreign Agents from the US.
Don't get too excited, OP. A good rule of thumb in understanding Russia is: "The more things change, the more they stay the same." No matter what happens in to US and to its leadership.
Also think about whether Russia has anything that Americans want. Nothing I can think of besides fabulous ice cream. OK, caviar, maybe.
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