Amendment to Russian trade barrier in the US postponed

A move to introduce legislation that would remove US trading restrictions with Russia will have to wait until after Congress comes back from its five-week summer recess. A House Republican spokesman confirmed that the debate over whether to lift one of the last economic barriers from the Cold War-era will have to wait until the autumn.

Although the Jackson-Vanik amendment, a law originally introduced in 1974 to place restrictions on countries seeking to control emigration, is annually repealed by Congress, it needs to be permanently struck from the books if exporters in the US want to trade freely with Russia.

The House and Senate committees have already approved the new bill, but leaders in the Senate have said that it will not progress until a vote is taken by the House.

Supporters of the bill have warned that any delay will mean American businesses losing out on trade opportunities in Russia if it is not pushed through before August when the country is due to become a member of the World Trade Organisation.

Although it is widely accepted that the bill will improve trade relations with Russia, some are still concerned about human rights issues within Russian and the country’s support of Syria. Democratic leaders in the Senate admit that a repeal of the Jackson-Vanik amendment will eventually go through, but that more time was needed for law makers to fully come to terms with what is at stake when it is.