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• U.S. Trade Representative to suspend Russia’s WTO membership
• Russian exports totaled $29 billion in 2021, mostly comprised oil and gas products
President Joe Biden on Friday said the United States would revoke Russia’s “permanent normal trade relations” (PNTR) status to put more pressure on Russia for its unprovoked invasion into Ukraine.
The decision would downgrade Russia as a trading partner pave the way to impose tariffs on a wide range of Russian goods--heightening pressure on the nation’s economy, which is already on the brink of a deep recession.
On Friday, multiple news outlets reported that the European Union and the G7 countries, including France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States, would take the same step.
Canada already revoked Russia’s favored nation status last week.
In an interview over the weekend, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had asked Congress to revoke Russia’s most favored nation status.
U.S. to suspend Russia’s WTO membership
To cancel PNTR status, Biden will need action from Congress, which is expected will not encounter serious resistance.
Both Republicans and Democrats have strongly supported non-military efforts to punish Russia.
Moreover, the House and the Senate will have to approve the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) to suspend Russia’s World Trade Organization (WTO) membership to revoke the status.
“I think we should use Article 21 ability under the WTO to revoke that,” Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, said Thursday during a Foreign Relations Committee hearing.
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The PNTR status is a legal designation the U.S. gives other countries for conducting free trade with that foreign nation. The U.S. changed the name from “most favored nation” (MFN) to PNTR in 1998.
Data from the office of the USTR showed Russia was the U.S.′ 26th-largest trading partner in 2019.
Last year, Russian export totaled $29 billion, most of which comprised oil and gas products.
Biden has already signed an executive order banning Russian oil imports earlier this week.
Picture Credit: Forbes