U.S. House Moves To Raise Tariffs On Russia, Belarus

On an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote on March 17, the U.S. House of Representatives approved legislation that would suspend permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) with Russia.

If approved by the Senate and signed by President Joe Biden, this bill would allow the United States to increase tariffs on Russian and Belarussian goods entering the country. (As Connecting the Dots reported last week, President Biden had requested that Congress approve this bill.)

The legislation also:

• Sets up strict guidelines for when President Biden can restore normal trade relations with Russia and Belarus based on the state of the Ukraine war.
• Obligates the Biden administration to push for Russia’s removal from the World Trade Organization (WTO) and to oppose Belarus joining the group, a step that would subject both countries to higher tariffs and steeper trade barriers.
• Expands sanction authorities under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, including authorizing the president to impose sanctions on government officials responsible for misappropriation of state assets, expropriation of private assets for personal gain, corruption or bribery, among other provisions.

According to the Congressional Research Service, certain steel products will be among the 10 products most impacted by the change in trade status. (Read the full CRS report here.)

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has said his chamber will move quickly to take up the measure, but, according to Politico, the path in the Senate is uncertain because Republicans want to pair the bill with legislation to ban Russian energy imports — a measure that, as written by GOP lawmakers, does not enjoy as much support.

The House vote came two days after the European Union issued a written statement announcing that it, the G7, and nine additional countries (Australia, South Korea, Norway, New Zealand, Iceland, Albania, Moldova, Montenegro and North Macedonia) would stop providing Russia with most-favored-nation treatment. The countries also suspended the process by which Belarus was trying to the ascend to the WTO. Read the statement here.

Finally, last week the EU also approved new sanctions against Russia to include bans on investments in the Russian energy sector, luxury goods exports, and imports in iron and steel and froze assets of more business leaders.