Posts Tagged ‘pntr’
Baucus Urges Swift Passage of Bill to Create U.S. Jobs by Expanding Trade with Russia
US Senate Committee on Finance
In a Senate Finance Committee hearing held today, Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) called on Congress to pass his legislation by next month enabling U.S. businesses to pursue new job-creating export opportunities in Russia when it joins the World Trade Organization (WTO) this summer. Baucus introduced the bill last week along with International Trade Subcommittee Ranking Member John Thune (R-S.D.), Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Armed Services Committee Ranking Member John McCain (R-Ariz.). The bill would establish permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) with Russia and remove Russia from the 1974 Jackson-Vanik amendment, steps necessary for American businesses to capitalize on the new market access Russia must provide as a condition of WTO membership.
“Russia’s accession to the World Trade Organization this summer will mean thousands of new jobs and give a boost to our economy here in the United States, but only if we pass Russia Permanent Normal Trade Relations legislation by August. If we don’t pass PNTR, American workers, businesses, farmers and ranchers will lose out to their competitors in China and Europe,” Baucus said. “Unlike a free trade agreement, we will not lower any of our tariffs or change any of our trade laws – it is a one-sided deal in America’s favor. We can’t ignore the host of difficult issues we face with Russia, but failing to pass PNTR will only harm U.S. exporters and the jobs they create. America needs the jobs PNTR will bring.”
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US Senator Baucus says Russia trade vote needed by August
The chairman of the U.S. Senate’s finance committee said on Thursday it was important that Congress approve legislation by August to boost trade relations with Russia, despite concerns over its record on human rights and support for Syria.
“This is a one-sided deal in America’s favor, but only if we act,” Max Baucus said at the start of a hearing on granting “permanent normal trade relations” (PNTR) to America’s former Cold-War foe by lifting a 1974 provision that made favorable U.S. tariff rates on Russian goods dependent on the right of Jews and other religious minorities to emigrate.
“Russia’s accession to the World Trade Organization this summer will mean thousands of jobs to the United States, but only if we pass Russian permanent normal trade relations legislation by August,” Baucus said.
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USTR’s Kirk, Rep. Camp Call For Russia Trade Bill Without Human Rights
Obama administration officials and a key House Republican Wednesday issued a similar message to Congress on the urgency of lifting trade restrictions on Russia, saying the bill should be passed quickly and without including human rights or other provisions.
However, the top Democrat on the House Ways and Means committee said the so-called “Magnitsky” bill punishing Russian human-rights violators should be included in any trade legislation, while arguing that the House should hold up on approving the bill until Russia takes steps to help contain the conflict in Syria.
U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk told the House panel that lawmakers should act by Aug. 22 or risk putting U.S. companies at a competitive disadvantage when Russia formally joins the World Trade Organization by that date.
“Our priority is for Congress to terminate the Cold-War era Jackson-Vanik amendment as it applies to Russia in a clean bill that enables us to maintain our competitive edge,” Mr. Kirk said in prepared remarks at the hearing. Repealing Jackson-Vanik, a 1974 measure that prevents the U.S. from granting most-favored-nation status to countries that restrict emigration, won’t be a “gift” to Russia, he insisted.
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Top trade panel Dem splits with Obama, calls for linking Russia trade bill to Syria
The top Democrat on the House trade panel Wednesday split with the White House and called for the United States to hold off on improving trade relations with Russia until the Kremlin joins the world in condemning Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad.
“Trade is about commerce; it also can be about conscience,” Ways and Means Committee Ranking Member Sander Levin (D-Mich.) said in prepared remarks at a hearing on the trade issue.
The Obama administration and Ways and Means Committee chairman David Camp (R-Mich) are calling for establishing Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) with Russia without preconditions. But Levin opened the hearing calling for linking the improvement of trade ties with Moscow to progress on Syria and passage of human rights legislation.
Levin urged Congress to pass a bipartisan, bicameral trade bill “with the clear understanding that after a bill is reported out of committee in the near future, action on the floor will be withheld for a period of time to determine whether Russia will join our nation and others in steps to address the Assad regime’s horrendous violence against its own people.”
Levin added that the trade issue should also be linked to a human rights bill that places financial and travel sanctions on Russian human rights violators. The bill is named after Sergei Magnitsky, a whistle-blowing lawyer who died in police custody in 2008.
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U.S. trade bill “not a gift” for Russia, Kirk says
The top U.S. trade official on Wednesday urged Congress to quickly approve legislation to improve trade ties with Russia, unencumbered by human rights requirements, saying it was vital to keep U.S. exports competitive in the Russian market.
“Authorizing the president to provide permanent normal trade relations is not a gift to Russia,” U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk said in testimony to the House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee.
Taking that action would ensure that U.S. companies “have the opportunity to enjoy all of the benefits” of Russia’s upcoming entry into the World Trade Organization, which is expected by August 22, Kirk said.
Kirk urged Congress to pass a “clean bill that enables us to maintain our competitive edge,” in reference to the desire of many lawmakers to attach human rights legislation.
Trade relations between the United States and Russia have been governed since 1974 by a human rights provision known as the Jackson-Vanik amendment.
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Rep. Brady Says Passing PNTR for Russia Is ‘Doable’This Summer, but a Hard Lift
House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-Texas) June 19 said that passing legislation allowing permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) status for Russia was “doable” by this summer although it would be a “hard lift.”
Brady also said he would prefer to see Russia PNTR legislation and a bill addressing Russian human rights concerns move separately.
“There’s no question passing PNTR for Russia is definitely doable, and it is doable this summer,” Brady said in a keynote address at a Peterson Institute for International Economics conference. “But there must be a meeting of the minds on the strategy, just as you do for every trade agreement.”
Brady said that the White House must ramp up its efforts to convince Congress to approve PNTR for Russia before it accedes to the World Trade Organization, adding that administration officials would have an opportunity to make the case at a June 20 hearing of the full Ways and Means Committee.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.), International Trade Subcommittee ranking member John Thune (R-S.D.), Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry (D-Mass.), and Armed Services Committee ranking member John McCain (R-Ariz.) recently introduced legislation (S. 3285) to terminate the application of Title IV of the Trade Act of 1974 to Russia so the president can grant PNTR (113 DER A-30, 6/13/12). At that time, Baucus and Kerry simultaneously unveiled their strategy of advancing human rights legislation along with the trade bill by adding the full text of the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act (S. 1039) as an amendment to the bill that would terminate Title IV of the 1974 Trade Act.
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Senate Committee Postpones Vote on Magnitsky Bill
A Senate committee postponed a vote Tuesday that would punish Russian human-rights violators, Dow Jones Newswires reported.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee delayed the vote on the so-called “Magnitsky” bill, named for the lawyer who died in a Russian prison in 2009 after accusing government officials of fraud, on the request of an unspecified committee member.
“There will not be a vote on the Magnitsky bill at today’s business meeting,” said Jodi Seth, a committee aide, confirming the report to Corruption Currents. “We have not yet scheduled the next business meeting, which is when the bill would be brought back up.”
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Vote on Russia human-rights bill postponed
A Senate panel postponed a vote on a Russian human-rights bill until next Tuesday after a panel member asked for a delay.
Under the Foreign Relations Committee’s rules, any member can anonymously request a holdover until the panel’s next business meeting. The delay comes the day after President Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin had a frosty meeting at the Group of 20 summit in Mexico.
Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), the bill’s Senate sponsor, said he didn’t think the delay had anything to do with the Obama-Putin meeting or the White House’s concerns with the bill. He said he expects it to pass the House and Senate.
“I am very confident that they’re not delaying our action,” Cardin said. “Doesn’t mean they’re supporting our action.
“We’ve been working very closely with the Obama administration. They’ve been very much engaged in what we’re doing.”
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Key religious group supports human-rights measure linked to Russia trade
Support for linking a human rights measure to an upcoming Russia trade bill got an important boost Monday when a key Jewish rights group announced it is backing the bill.
Normal trade relations with Russia is currently conditioned on Russia allowing its Jewish citizens to emigrate. It is subject to an outdated measure known as the Jackson-Vanik amendment, which was applied in the mid-1980s and which no one thinks is still relevant.
The Union of Councils for Jews in the Former Soviet Union, which backed the initial Jackson-Vanik tie, is now advocating for a new human-rights measure meant to punish those responsible for the death of Russian whistleblower Sergei Magnitsky.
The bill, which would subject Russian human-rights abusers to financial sanctions, is opposed by some in the business community who worry it will inadvertently subject U.S. firms that do business in Russia to penalties.
UCSJ joined other religious group on a letter last week to members of Congress urging them to support the Magnitsky bill.
“Among other things, we support this legislation because it specifically targets officials who abuse human rights with effective travel and financial sanctions,” the groups said.
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