Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) is on his way back
from Russia after meeting with outgoing Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in anticipation of a coming congressional debate on
giving Russia Permanent Normalized Trade Relations (PNTR) status.
The visit was closely coordinated with the Obama
administration, according to a Baucus aide. Baucus is anticipating a debate
over granting Russia PNTR, which would also require the repeal of the 1974
Jackson-Vanik law, sometime this spring or summer. By then, Russia will be a
full member of the World Trade Organization and U.S. businesses would be
disadvantaged from doing business in Russia if the PNTR issue is not resolved,
according to Baucus.
But the Baucus camp was keen to stress that the
senator's focus went well beyond economic access for American companies.
"Baucus wanted to learn more
and prepare himself for this year's debate to prepare himself and other members
as he did last year with Colombia before the free trade debate," his aide told The Cable. "Baucus
definitely stressed democracy and human rights concerns with Medvedev as he did
with several other senior Russian officials on the trip. He also met at length
with civil society activists -- democracy, human rights and environmental
activists -- as well as another meeting with leading transparency and
anti-corruption advocates."
Some GOP offices want to link the issues of human
rights and corruption in Russia to the granting of PNTR status. Those offices
are pushing for passage of Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act of 2011,
named for the anti-corruption lawyer who was allegedly tortured and died in a
Russian prison exactly two years ago today.
These Republicans -- who
include House Foreign Affairs Chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) -- want passage of the Magnitsky bill to
be the cost of repealing the 1974 Jackson-Vanik amendment, which prevents
Russia from getting PNTR status. The administration would prefer not to link
Magnitsky to this trade status, because it would cause the Russians to take
retaliatory measures against the U.S. in other areas of bilateral cooperation.
Administration officials are proposing a fund to support a new democracy and
human rights foundation in Russia instead, but Republicans are cool on that
idea.
The Russians staunchly oppose the Magnitsky bill. In
fact, the Russian government is moving forward with the prosecution of
Magnitsky on criminal tax charges, even though he is dead.
In a press release before his trip,
Baucus argued that granting PNTR status for Russia could result in a doubling
of U.S. exports to Russia, which now stand at about $9 billion per year. He
also argued that a package of concessions Russia made to the United States
before being invited to join the WTO would result in benefits for U.S. animal
and agricultural industries and will result in Russia tamping down its own
domestic agricultural subsidies.
"Opening doors overseas in
countries like Russia will propel our economic recovery forward and create jobs
across the United States," Baucus said. "Holding Russia to
its promises as it enters the WTO and seeking a greater share of the Russian
market is a one-way economic benefit for the United States and an absolute
no-brainer."
Baucus' home state of Montana is
a major beef exporter and Russia is currently the fifth largest importer of
American beef. Baucus has touted Russia's agreement to
reduce beef tariffs as part of its WTO accession.
On Feb. 20, in addition to
Medvedev, Baucus met with First Deputy Prime
Minister Igor Shuvalov, Russia's top
official on economic and trade issues, and Minister of Economic Development Elvira Nabiullina. On Monday, Baucus also met
with Russian Minister of Agriculture Yelena Skrynnik and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
"Meeting with Foreign Minister Lavrov, Baucus pushed
for Russia to reevaluate the positions it has taken on Syria and Iran. He
asked what steps Russia is willing to take to halt the violence in Syria, given
that every effort to date has failed, and discussed Russia's response to Iran's
nuclear program," his office said Tuesday. There was no
word about Lavrov's response to those questions.
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