Vice President Biden says his visit to Russia is focused on exploring ways to improve economic ties between Russia and the United States. He says the U.S. strongly supports Russia’s accession to the World Trade Organization, and wants to repeal legislation that has restricted bilateral trade.
By Stephen Kaufman
Staff Writer
Washington — Vice President Biden said the United States is a strong supporter of Russia’s accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the Obama administration also wants to end U.S. restrictions on bilateral trade that were enacted during the time of Russia’s predecessor, the Soviet Union.
“The primary purpose of my visit is to explore how we can resolve the remaining challenges in our economic relationship because they must be resolved,” Biden said March 9 at a roundtable discussion with Russian and American business leaders in Moscow.
“The United States strongly supports Russia’s accession to the WTO. And we are working with Russian negotiators in Geneva to move this process forward,” Biden said, adding that “real progress” is being made on longstanding areas of disagreement such as agricultural trade and the enforcement of intellectual property rights.
In addition, the us-vice president said the Obama administration strongly supports freeing Russia from the provisions of the Jackson-Vanik Amendment to the Trade Act of 1974. The amendment put limits on trade with countries that restricted emigration rights, as the Soviet Union did at the time.
“We are aware of the benefits that will flow to U.S. companies from a freer and more open trade regime between the United States and Russia,” and those benefits will extend worldwide, Biden said.
Us-Vice Biden said investors and companies “are looking not just for better trade policies but for assurances” that the legal system in countries they want to invest in “treats them fairly and acts on their concerns swiftly.”
For that reason, the United States is working with Russian officials and business leaders to improve the investment climate, promote the rule of law and “tackle some endemic corruption” in Russia.
In July 2009, President Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev created the U.S.-Russia Bilateral Presidential Commission.
The commission includes the Business Development and Economic Relations Working Group, which has been addressing ways to remove trade barriers and to encourage investment, strengthen intellectual property protection and facilitate the development of small businesses in both countries.
The commission “is an important venue for our intergovernmental efforts. And we are using it to develop a more adept cadre of managers on both sides of the Atlantic, to improve our procurement systems and to address issues that you and your colleagues have raised, such as the difficulty of obtaining visas,” Biden said.
Biden met later March 9 with President Medvedev and praised the improved relations between the United States and Russia during the first two years of the Obama administration, which have seen cooperation on arms control measures like the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) and efforts against the nuclear activities of North Korea and Iran.
US-President Obama “wants me to make it clear we wish to continue the progress, this time on the economic front,” Biden said.
Russia’s accession to the WTO is “the most important item on our agenda,” he said, and U.S. officials “are not being passive” on the effort to repeal the Jackson-Vanik Amendment.
The us-vice president also told Medvedev that the United States has high expectations for Russia, which are “born out of admiration and respect.”
More Coverage:
Washington Updated:
03/09/2011 05:05 PM EST
Distributed by the Embassy of the United States of America, Brussels, Belgium.
Web sites:
http://belgium.usembassy.gov ;
http://www.uspolicy.be
Web sites:
http://belgium.usembassy.gov ;
http://www.uspolicy.be
Keine Kommentare:
Kommentar veröffentlichen