Posts Tagged ‘WTO’
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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U.S. Companies Worry About Effect of Russia Joining W.T.O.
After two decades of negotiations, Russia will finally join the World Trade Organization on Wednesday. The lower trade barriers that come along with membership will open up new opportunities for foreign companies to do business in Russia.
But American companies are guaranteed no such advantages — and may even face higher Russian tariffs than their competitors from other countries.
Because of broader policy concerns about the Kremlin’s crackdown on dissidents and its support for rogue governments, Congress has balked at the Obama administration’s request to grant Russia permanent normal trade relation status. That status is important since the W.T.O. requires that any country that seeks to benefit from it must apply the same trade rules to all member countries.
Major American exporters to Russia, like Caterpillar, Deere and General Electric, are worried about the potential impact on their business from the Congressional inaction. Across all sectors of the economy, Russia will lower import tariffs to 7 percent, from about 15 percent today, for the 155 countries in the trade organization. Although Russian officials say they do not have any immediate intention of applying discriminatory tariffs against American companies, they could legally do so at any time.
Russia was the last major economy that was not part of the trade group, and joining is expected to be a boon for Russian consumers and businesses. Exporting companies in Europe, Asia and the United States eagerly await open access to a population of 142 million people with growing incomes and an expanding middle class.
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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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Trade Relations With Russia
Congress was supposed to pass a bill to improve trade relations with Russia before it left town for summer recess. That did not happen, and American companies that do business in Russia, or want to, may find themselves at a disadvantage with foreign competitors once Russia joins the World Trade Organization on Aug. 22.
The issue hangs on an anachronism called the Jackson-Vanik amendment, which was enacted in 1974 to pressure Moscow to grant Jews the freedom to leave the country by effectively imposing higher tariffs on imports from the Soviet Union. Two decades later, Jewish emigration is no longer a problem, but the law is.
Since 1992, American presidents have waived application of the law and granted Russia temporary, normal trade status, which allows lower import duties. With Russia becoming the last major economy to win admission to the W.T.O., that status needs to be made permanent. If Jackson-Vanik is not lifted, the United States will be in violation of W.T.O. rules. And American exporters will have to pay higher tariffs to Russia to enter its markets than European and Asian competitors do. The fallout for American workers should be obvious.
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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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Fire fighting
Russia is on the verge of becoming a WTO member, but practitioners with in-depth, first-hand experience of the country’s legal, political and business infrastructure believe it is rotten to the core.
It is Russian Business Week 2010 and students in a crowded lecture hall at the London School of Economics (LSE) are on the edge of their seats as Roger Munnings, chairman of Russia’s Audit Committee Institute, stands up to deliver his keynote speech.
Before he begins he asks any Russian members of the audience to raise their hands: 200 hands shoot straight up. He then asks how many people wish to return to Russia to work after completing their studies: 190 hands quickly disappear.
Munnings carries on with his speech regardless, but when it finally comes to a close, one member of the audience cannot resist standing up and passing comment.
Maybe you weren’t paying attention when you asked for a show of hands,” he says, “but only 10 of 200 Russian LSE students want to return to Russia. These are the best and brightest students that Russia has to offer and they don’t want to go back home. Just what good news and a true picture of Russia are they supposed to be spreading?”
The audience member was none other than Jamison Firestone, managing partner of both Moscow law firm Firestone Duncan and London-based FD Advisory. His probing comment earned him an overwhelming ovation from the student body.
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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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