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Underscoring that Russia is now a WTO member as of August 22, the business leaders stressed that, “more than 150 WTO countries – except the United States – can now fully benefit from much better access to the Russian marketplace and important new WTO rights, including stronger IP protections, greater transparency, and recourse to the WTO’s dispute settlement procedures if Russia fails to meet its commitments.”
By contrast, they noted, “the United States will not have the same WTO rights and economic opportunities until Congress passes Russia PNTR. This creates business uncertainty for U.S. companies seeking to expand in the Russian market and also gives foreign competitors a significant advantage in securing new sales and contracts there.”
In addition to USCIB, the letter was signed by the heads of the American Farm Bureau Federation, Business Roundtable, Coalition of Services Industries, Emergency Committee for American Trade, Information Technology Industry Council, National Association of Manufacturers, National Foreign Trade Council, U.S. Chamber of Commerce and U.S.-Russia Business Council.
Staff contact: Rob Mulligan
Business association letter on Russia PNTR
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