President Obama’s Signature Paves Way for Permanent Normal Trade Relations with Russia and Moldova.
On August 22, 2012, Russia became the 156th Member of the World Trade Organization (WTO). On December 14, 2012, the President signed legislation – which had been approved overwhelmingly by the U.S. Congress – terminating the application of Jackson-Vanik and extending permanent normal trade relations to Russia and Moldova. On December 21, 2012, the United States and Russia both filed letters with the World Trade Organization (WTO) withdrawing their notices of non-application and agreeing to have the WTO agreement apply between them. The application of the WTO agreement between the United States and Russia will benefit U.S. businesses and workers by improving market access for U.S. exports of goods and services and bringing Russia into a system of established, enforceable, multilateral trade rules.