US President Joe Biden was yesterday set to call for an end of normal trade relations with Russia, clearing the way for increased tariffs on Russian imports, people familiar with the matter said.
His announcement to revoke the trade privileges was to come alongside similar measures by G7 nations and EU leaders, the people said.
The president cannot unilaterally change Russia’s trade status because that authority lies with the US Congress, where Democratic and Republican lawmakers have called for the revocation.
Photo: Bloomberg
Suspending normal trade relations with the US, which other countries call “most favored nation status,” would put Russia in the company of countries such as Cuba and North Korea.
It would allow the US to hit Russia with significantly higher tariffs than it applies to other WTO members, which has as a core principle of non-discrimination among members and treating all members equally.
Just like the US, the other countries calling for the repeal over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine go through their own processes, the people said.
Russia is far more dependent on the EU than the US, selling about one-third of its exports to the bloc, versus just 5 percent to the US in 2020, IMF data showed.
The EU last week said that it was seeking to remove Russia’s most-favored nation status, and Canada withdrew the designation from Russia.
Leaders in the US House of Representatives and Senate have pushed for the repeal of preferential trade relations, but earlier this week, the provision was removed from a bill banning Russian energy imports.
Lawmakers criticized the White House for asking that the provision be struck as talks with allies were ongoing.
On Thursday night, US Senator Rob Portman said that he has a bill with US Senator Ben Cardin to revoke Russia’s trade status, adding that it is important that Biden also has allies following suit.
“It’s much more effective if they all do it,” Portman said in an interview at the Capitol. “For us it’s not a big deal, but for Europe it’s huge, and it’s the right thing to do. Access to our market is a privilege, not a right.”
The UK yesterday slapped a fresh wave of sanctions on Moscow, targeting 386 members of Russia’s parliament who supported Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
The new sanctions against members of the Duma ban them from traveling to the UK, as well as accessing any assets they hold in Britain.
The lawmakers were sanctioned after they voted last month to recognize the breakaway republics of Lugansk and Donetsk in eastern Ukraine, providing a pretext for the war, the British Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said.
“We’re targeting those complicit in Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine and those who support this barbaric war,” British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs Liz Truss said.
“We will not let up the pressure and will continue to tighten the screw on the Russian economy through sanctions,” she said.
Additional reporting by Reuters
GLOBAL ISSUE: If China annexes Taiwan, ‘it will not stop its expansion there, as it only becomes stronger and has more force to expand further,’ the president said China’s military and diplomatic expansion is not a sole issue for Taiwan, but one that risks world peace, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that Taiwan would stand with the alliance of democratic countries to preserve peace through deterrence. Lai made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). “China is strategically pushing forward to change the international order,” Lai said, adding that China established the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank, launched the Belt and Road Initiative, and pushed for yuan internationalization, because it wants to replace the democratic rules-based international
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
The National Development Council (NDC) yesterday unveiled details of new regulations that ease restrictions on foreigners working or living in Taiwan, as part of a bid to attract skilled workers from abroad. The regulations, which could go into effect in the first quarter of next year, stem from amendments to the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及僱用法) passed by lawmakers on Aug. 29. Students categorized as “overseas compatriots” would be allowed to stay and work in Taiwan in the two years after their graduation without obtaining additional permits, doing away with the evaluation process that is currently required,
RELEASED: Ko emerged from a courthouse before about 700 supporters, describing his year in custody as a period of ‘suffering’ and vowed to ‘not surrender’ Former Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) was released on NT$70 million (US$2.29 million) bail yesterday, bringing an end to his year-long incommunicado detention as he awaits trial on corruption charges. Under the conditions set by the Taipei District Court on Friday, Ko must remain at a registered address, wear a GPS-enabled ankle monitor and is prohibited from leaving the country. He is also barred from contacting codefendants or witnesses. After Ko’s wife, Peggy Chen (陳佩琪), posted bail, Ko was transported from the Taipei Detention Center to the Taipei District Court at 12:20pm, where he was fitted with the tracking
RSS