Washington, DC – The National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) today welcomed House Ways and Means Committee approval of H.R. 6156, a bill to establish permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) with Russia. The NFTC released the following statement.
“We applaud the Ways and Means Committee for approving legislation granting Russia PNTR, an important step in boosting the U.S. economy and job creation. With Russia’s accession to the WTO only weeks away, granting PNTR is necessary to ensure the United States greater access to one of the fastest-growing economies in the world and U.S. companies a level playing field,” said NFTC President Bill Reinsch.
“We strongly urge House and Senate leaders to take immediate action to bring the Russia PNTR bill to the floor as soon as possible before August recess. The clock is ticking and American exporters and workers simply cannot afford further delay,” said Reinsch.
On Tuesday, Reinsch sent a
letter to all members of the Ways and Means Committee, urging them to support the PNTR bill. He also reiterated the NFTC’s reservations about legislation that could jeopardize the benefits of Russia’s WTO accession and PNTR, or complicate U.S.-Russia relations, writing “We have elsewhere expressed our strong reservations about both the House and Senate versions of the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law bill, although the bill reported by House Foreign Affairs Committee is preferable to S. 1039 since its scope is limited to Russian persons and it contains a sunset provision.”
About the NFTC
Advancing Global Commerce for Nearly A Century- The National Foreign Trade Council (www.nftc.org) is a leading business organization advocating an open, rules-based global trading system. Founded in 1914 by a broad-based group of American companies, the NFTC now serves hundreds of member companies through its offices in Washington and New York.
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