Report on Russia's WTO Commitments Finds Trade Restrictions Growing
In a report on how Russia is living up to its World Trade Organization commitments -- a report produced every other year for Congress -- the U.S. trade representative wrote that Russia has expanded import substitution to state-owned enterprises and private enterprises, including a ban on imported equipment.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
If your job depends on informed compliance, you need International Trade Today. Delivered every business day and available any time online, only International Trade Today helps you stay current on the increasingly complex international trade regulatory environment.
"Russia still restricts bilateral trade through import bans on a wide variety of agricultural products and high tariffs (above their WTO bound rates) on certain industrial products. Russia also limits exports of certain industrial products and, notwithstanding the global food security crisis, restricts a wide variety of agricultural products and agricultural inputs," the report said.
Sanctions, export controls and reputational risk in selling in a country that is trying to conquer its neighbor have led to a decline in bilateral trade, the report said. Russia joined the WTO in 2012, and at that time, the U.S. imported almost $32 billion worth of goods from Russia and exported close to $11 billion worth of goods. Last year, the U.S. imported $15.7 billion worth of goods from Russia and exported $4.5 billion worth.