Posts Tagged ‘pntr’
Sen. Cardin optimistic on Magnitsky bill
Sen. Ben Cardin of Maryland, interviewed at the Convention Center, says he’s optimistic that the House will pass his Magnitsky legislation.
It’s an amendment to the normal trade relations with Russia bill and would bar Russian human rights violators from entering the United States. It’s named for the Russian lawyer who defended dissidents and who died in prison after being denied medical treatment.
“It’s an outrage,” Cardin says, with strong emphasis, “something you just can’t be silent about.” He goes on, “Russians I talk to have encouraged me. They say ‘our country can do better than that.’”
He emphasizes this is a bipartisan cause, that he’s working closely on every step with Sens. John McCain and Jon Kyl and has been in touch with the House Republican leadership. The Obama administration has pushed against including the Magnitsky amendment.
But Cardin said Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s letter in response to his letter asking to bar the human rights violators “showed some interest.”
Anyway, let no one say there’s not one note of bipartisanship at this convention. unshaven girl unshaven girl https://www.zp-pdl.com https://zp-pdl.com/how-to-get-fast-payday-loan-online.php займ срочно без отказов и проверок
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US business hopeful Congress passes Russia trade bill in Sept
Reuters
A U.S. business group on Tuesday said they were hopeful Congress would approve a bill to upgrade U.S. trade relations with Russia after it returns from a month-long break and warned that U.S. companies would lose business if lawmakers don’t act.
Dan Flaherty, vice president at the National Foreign Trade Council, said the group was gearing up its lobbying efforts for a vote in the House of Representatives as early as Sept. 12, which it hopes will be followed by quick Senate action.
If not, U.S. exporters will be left at a significant disadvantage to competitors in Europe, Asia and elsewhere around the world after Russia formally enters the World Trade Organization on Wednesday, Flaherty said.
“Our European friends are already in the market in a major way. (Failing to approve the Russia trade bill) is an invitation for them to solidify and expand their presence in areas where we would be more competitive,” he said.
Congress is under pressure to approve “permanent normal trade relations” with Russia by repealing a Cold War provision known as the Jackson-Vanik amendment, which ties normal U.S. tariff rates for Russia to emigration issues.
The White House has judged Russia to be in compliance with Jackson-Vanik for nearly two decades, but the measure remains on the books and is at odds with WTO rules requiring members to provide each other “unconditional” normal trade relations.
Business groups, which have been working for months to win approval of PNTR, are concerned the issue could be delayed until after the November presidential and congressional elections or even into 2013, if lawmakers don’t act quickly in September.
In Geneva, WTO Director General Pascal Lamy told Reuters he was optimistic Congress would approve PNTR in the coming weeks because “if U.S. was not to do this, this probably would be a disadvantage for U.S. business.”
Flaherty told reporters he understood Republican leaders in the House of Representatives planned to bring up the Russia PNTR bill on Sept. 12 under a procedure usually reserved for non-controversial legislation.
The bill is expected to be combined with human rights legislation known as the “Magnitsky bill,” and would require a two-thirds vote for approval, instead of a simple majority, because of the expedited approval procedure, he said.
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, a Republican, said in early August the House was prepared to vote on PNTR and the Magnitsky bill when lawmakers return “should the Senate and President (Barack Obama) commit to support passage before the end of September.”
A spokesman for Cantor on Tuesday referred reporters to that statement and said he could not confirm that the vote had been set for Sept. 12.
A spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat, did not immediately respond to a query on the possibility of Senate action in September.
Bill Reinsch, president of the National Foreign Trade Council, estimated that as many as 80 House Democrats would have to join with Republicans to get to the approximately 290 votes needed for approval in that chamber.
A House vote in early September would put pressure on the Senate to take up the issue in the few legislative days left before the elections, he said. payday loan микрозайм онлайн https://zp-pdl.com/online-payday-loans-cash-advances.php https://zp-pdl.com/how-to-get-fast-payday-loan-online.php займы на карту срочно
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House aims to take up trade bill in September
A leading business coalition expects the House to take up a bill that would extend normal trade ties to Russia shortly after returning from the summer break.
The National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) expects the House to hold a vote Sept. 12 on a bill that combines provisions providing permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) to Russia with human-rights legislation.
“If the House acts that early in September, there should be a good bit of momentum going forward in Senate,” Bill Reinsch, NFTC’s president told reporters Tuesday, on the eve of Russia joining the World Trade Organization.
Russia completes its accession to the World Trade Organization on Wednesday but Congress didn’t repeal the 1974 Jackson-Vanik provision, which would have provided normal trade relations between the two nations, before leaving for the August recess.
“Sen. [Harry] Reid hasn’t said anything about this in a very long time, but it would be big news if the House passes it on suspension, there would be a lot of momentum,” Reinsch said.
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Business groups headed to conventions to push lawmakers on Russia trade bil
Business groups will mount their next blitz on lawmakers to pass a bill normalizing trade with Russia at the upcoming party conventions.
The Business Roundtable and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce will head to the Republicans convention in Tampa and to the Democrats event in Charlotte to hammer home the need to pass legislation extending permanent normal trade relations to Moscow when they return to Washington next month.
“Through radio and print ads, media interviews and panel discussions, the BRT agenda to grow the U.S. economy, including PNTR with Russia, will be highlighted at the conventions,” said Tita Freeman, senior vice president for communications at the BRT.
The Chamber will blanket the conventions, as well.
“Yes, it will be on our agenda as well as we talk with members of Congress at both conventions,” said Blair Latoff, senior director of U.S. Chamber communications.
“With a severely attenuated congressional calendar for the fall, we will be encouraging Members to focus on key priorities, which includes finally passing Russia PNTR and allowing the trade benefits to begin to flow as soon as possible,” Latoff said.
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How Not to Pass a Bill
Among the many things the House never got around to doing before shutting down for the summer was holding a vote on a bill that would have granted permanent normal trade relations to Russia.
Please don’t turn the page.
Yes, compared with its inability to pass a farm bill, this may sound like small potatoes. But it is a near-perfect illustration of the way the House Republican leadership has largely abdicated its responsibility to get useful things done — as opposed to, say, conducting votes to repeal Obamacare a few dozen times.
There wasn’t much controversy over the Russia bill. Business supported it because American companies could then take advantage of Russia’s imminent entry into the World Trade Organization. It would have required repealing the old Jackson-Vanik amendment, which links trade to the emigration of Russian Jews. But that’s been a nonissue for decades. The Senate was lined up to pass the bill quickly once the House acted.
Many Russian opposition figures, like Garry Kasparov, supported it for a different reason. It had been paired with something called the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act. Magnitsky, you may recall, was the young Russian lawyer who tried to expose a huge tax fraud involving a number of high-ranking officials. His efforts led to his imprisonment, where he was grossly mistreated and deprived of medical treatment. And he died. The Magnitsky act would prevent his jailers — and other human rights abusers — from entering the country, and it would have frozen their assets as well.
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US Congress postpones signing Magnitsky Act
The US Congress has postponed its final vote on the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act of 2012.
The law, which has already overcome several major hurdles in the US Congress, was scheduled to go to the floor vote on 3 August before Congress broke for summer recess. However, the house announced at the end of last week that it would delay both voting on the law and on passing the bill to grant Russia Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) until Congress resumes in September.
The Act is part of a bill to repeal the Jackson-Vanik amendment to the Trade Act of 1974, which the US introduced to prevent the former Soviet Union, and other countries that restricted the emigration of their citizens, from enjoying PNTR with the US. The PNTR bill was approved by the House Ways and Means Committee two weeks ago.
WTO rules stipulate that member states must grant each other unconditional trading rights. As a result, this repeal is highly desired by US companies, which, after 22 August, when Russia finally joins the World Trade Organisation, will trade with Russia at a disadvantage to other WTO members until PNTR is granted.
In spite of the delays, the upcoming votes mark a key turning point as the US government finally bows to pressure by campaigners to name and shame those involved in the Magnitsky ordeal and similar human rights violations in Russia. Magnitsky, a partner at Moscow-based law firm Firestone Duncan, died in a Moscow prison on 16 November after being held without trial for almost a year on charges of tax evasion.
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Russia Bills Fall Victim to America’s Broken Political Process
In spite of the fact that the U.S. economy continues to suffer and Europe is imploding, the U.S. Congress has left Washington for its traditional five-week summer recess. Among the plethora of legislation that Congress failed to address prior to its departure were two bills concerning Russia — the establishment of permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) and the ‘Magnitsky Act.’ This failure means that the review of these bills will not take place until next month at the earliest — when Congress has only eight working days — or perhaps even during its ‘lame duck’ session following the November elections. Many business stakeholders and politicians from across the country have expressed concern that the failure to pass the Russia PNTR legislation would have grave consequences for U.S. manufacturers and further complicate strained Russia/U.S. relations.
The PNTR bill is being addressed at a crucial time, with Russia becoming a member of the WTO on Aug. 22. Many U.S. companies believe that with more than 140 million consumers and a rapidly growing middle class, Russia will provide an expanding marketplace for U.S. goods and services. According to the President’s Export Council, U.S. exports to Russia rose by 40 percent in 2011 to around $11 billion, and it is projected to double within five years. Following its accession to the WTO, Russia will have to comply with WTO rules on reducing tariffs, applying nondiscriminatory treatment to imports, eliminating export subsidies and adhering to intellectual property rights and digital trade laws — areas that previously concerned U.S. businesses. As a founding member of the WTO, the US will not be required to make any trade adjustments.
The PNTR bill will also address the concerns of some policymakers in Washington by including additional provisions regarding the promotion of the rule of law in Russia. Some provisions advocate the specific protection of American investors, particularly supporting the claims of some investors in the Yukos Oil Company — once Russia’s largest company — that was dismantled and sold by the first Putin administration. Others encourage anti-bribery measures by promoting the expansion of civil society organizations in monitoring and reporting suspected instances of corruption. While major political concerns seem to have been addressed in the bill, U.S. business representatives still fear that the bill will not be passed into law before the presidential elections, putting American companies at a disadvantage in the Russian market.
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No House Vote on Bill to Lift Trade Barriers With Russia
House Republican leaders won’t bring legislation that would permanently lift trading restrictions with Russia before the congressional summer recess, a House Republican leadership aide said, delaying until the fall a debate on whether to lift one of the remaining Cold War-era economic barriers with the former American foe.
There had been a strong push to bring the legislation forward before the month-long recess begins next week. Ultimately the momentum fell short after several major labor unions, including the AFL-CIO, urged lawmakers to oppose the legislation in a concerted messaging effort last week.
The bill would permanently lift the Jackson-Vanik amendment, a measure that places trading restrictions on countries that seek to place controls on emigration. It initially became law in 1974 and was aimed squarely at Russia.
Since the end of the Cold War, the bill has been repealed annually by Congress. But with Russia set to join the World Trade Organization in August, the U.S. must permanently strike the measure from its books in order for American exporters to be able to compete for a larger share of Russian trade.
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Business groups worry that Congress will leave Russia trade bill hanging
Business groups supporting Russian trade legislation are increasingly worried Congress will leave for its five-week recess before completing the measure.
If Congress does leave before removing Russia from the terms of the 37-year-old Jackson-Vanik law, U.S. exporters will be the ones that suffer, the groups say.
Russia in August is expected to join the World Trade Organization (WTO), a move that requires the United States to repeal Jackson-Vanik, a U.S. law originally aimed at encouraging the emigration of Russian Jews with the threat of higher tariffs on Russian products.
If the United States does not lift Russia from Jackson-Vanik, the world’s sixth-largest economy will be able to raise tariffs on U.S. goods under the WTO’s rules.
“This is a mess and it is why the USA Engage and the National Foreign Trade Council are urging this Congress and this president to get their act together right now and enact Russia PNTR [permanent normal trade relations],” Dan O’Flaherty, NFTC’s vice president, wrote in a Monday blog post.
“Otherwise, American companies will not have the advantages that our negotiators have spent 19 years gaining for them in the Russian market,” he wrote.
House and Senate committees have both approved legislation to graduate Russia from Jackson-Vanik, but they disagree over a human-rights bill that has become the price for moving the Russia trade legislation.
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