US House votes to remove Russia's most-favoured trade status

WASHINGTON • The US House of Representatives has overwhelmingly backed legislation to remove "most-favoured nation" trade status for Russia and Belarus over the invasion of Ukraine, paving the way for higher tariffs on imports from the countries.

The Democratic-controlled House voted 424-8 in favour of removing Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) status, the latest congressional effort to put economic pressure on Moscow.

To become law, the measure must also pass the Senate, where Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said it would move through, after approval by the House.

The move to revoke Russia's status at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) is being coordinated with efforts by other Group of Seven democracies. It would automatically raise US tariffs to non-WTO rates for imports from Russia and it authorises US President Joe Biden to proclaim higher tariff rates on products from both Russia and Belarus.

But after a ban on US imports of Russian energy products last week, the impact from the tariff status change may be largely symbolic, said Professor Chad Bown, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. "Looking at the data, we just don't import a lot of stuff from Russia," Prof Bown said.

According to World Bank data, the biggest non-petroleum imports from Russia in 2020 were palladium, raw "pig" iron, rhodium, unwrought aluminium alloys, plywood and fertilisers.

In a related development, Republican senators on Thursday introduced a Bill to ban US imports of Russian uranium. The administration's ban on imports of Russian energy, such as oil and liquefied natural gas, does not yet include uranium.

The measure would expand the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, easing the imposition of sanctions on Russian officials for human rights violations. All eight "no" votes came from Republicans, some of whom said the Magnitsky provision gave too much power to the president.

"If we do not speak out for human rights because of commercial interests, we lose all moral authority to speak out for human rights," Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said, urging support for the Bill. The measure also directs US Trade Representative Katherine Tai to use "the voice and influence of the United States at the WTO" to encourage other countries to suspend trade concessions to Russia and to halt Belarus' accession to the trade body.

Meanwhile, Japan and Australia have announced separate measures sanctioning Russian individuals and organisations, including two oligarchs with links to Australia's mining industry, as well as Russia's state-owned arms exporter, its finance ministry and central bank.

REUTERS