Coalition for U.S.-Russia Trade
1110 Vermont Avenue, NW
Suite 350
Washington, DC 20005
Phone: (202) 222-0670
Fax: (202) 659-5920
Russia, the world’s eighth largest economy and one of the
fastest growing economies in transition, will soon join
the World Trade Organization and assume the
international legal obligations of the world trading
system.
The Coalition for U.S.-Russia Trade, a broad-based group
of U.S. companies and trade associations across every
major sector of the U.S. economy, supports stronger
U.S.-Russian economic ties and, specifically, Russia’s
integration into the rules-based system of the WTO on
strong, commercially meaningful terms. The Coalition
understands that Russia’s WTO membership encourages
greater transparency, adherence to the rule of law, and
increased certainty for U.S. trade and investment –
critical building blocks to a stronger U.S.-Russia
commercial relationship.
The central purpose of the Coalition is to ensure that
U.S. business and agricultural interests reap the
benefits of Russia’s WTO accession by securing passage
of critical legislation to grant Russia Permanent Normal
Trade Relations (PNTR) status.
The U.S. Congress does not vote on Russia’s entry into
the WTO or even the terms of the U.S. bilateral
agreement with Russia on its WTO accession.
The U.S. Congress does face a crucial vote, however, on
whether producers of U.S. goods and services can take
advantage of the terms and protections of Russia’s
accession that other foreign competitors will
automatically enjoy in the Russian market.
To ensure that U.S. interests can compete on an equal
footing in this crucial market, the U.S. Congress must
graduate Russia from the Jackson-Vanik amendment and
extend Russia PNTR.
