Senate Approves Russia Trade Bill

The Senate passed legislation on Dec. 6 that will normalize trade relations between the U.S. and Russia. It will allow U.S. chemical and pharmaceutical companies to take advantage of the benefits resulting from Russia’s admission to the World Trade Organization in August. The bill (H.R. 6156), which President Barack Obama is expected to sign, cleared the House of Representatives in late November. As part of its accession to WTO, Russia has agreed to lower its tariffs on chemical and pharmaceutical products, expanding export opportunities for those U.S. industries. Russia’s import duties on U.S. chemicals currently average 6.7%. Under its WTO commitments, Russia will reduce its average tariff on those products to 5.3%. Russia’s tariffs on U.S. pharmaceuticals, which now average 5.7%, will drop to 4.4%.