#13 - RW 267
Moscow Paper: Iraq War Problems Could Prompt Washington To Scrap
Jackson-Vanik
Rossiyskaya Gazeta
30 July 2003
Report by Sergey Beregovoy:
"Jackson-Vanik To Be Abolished Soon"
-- taken from HTML version of source provided by ISP

A press conference devoted to the problem of abolishing the Jackson-Vanik Amendment to the US law "On Trade" was held at the US Congress the other day. The amendment was adopted back in 1974 and was designed to limit foreign economic relations with states hindering the freedom to emigrate.

Congressman Curt Weldon stated at the press conference that the process of abolishing the amendment is into the final stretch, and the final lifting of the provision can be expected in September, during Putin's visit to the United States.

Powerful lobbies in both Russia and the United States have campaigned for the abolition of the amendment for many years. In the United States this is something that the Republicans have long been after. In our country the need to abolish the amendment has been proclaimed at the level of the state leadership. The Duma has been active on this issue, particularly Aleksandr Kotenkov, the president's representative in the lower house, as well as the "International Fund for Support for Humanitarian Programs" headed by Vladimir Petrosyan, with which, as the Moscow Times newspaper noted in an article the other day, US congressmen are coordinating closely, not least within the framework of the "State Duma-US Congress" group.

The amendment has long been an anachronism, but its opponents have taken a long time to overcome the resistance put up by those forces in both countries that have been trying to use the amendment as a trump card in political games. The success of the many years of efforts to abolish the amendment could be promoted by the existing international situation. Following the chain of scandalous stories that have unfurled of late with regard to the start of the war in Iraq, the United States may possibly make concessions in its relations with certain leading states -- including Russia -- in order to tone down the reaction from the world community.

At the same time, the war in Iraq unfortunately coincided with the preelection period in Russia -- ordinarily a time when great-power rhetoric intensifies and there is an upsurge in anti-American sentiment. Consequently, the most farsighted politicians in the United States are proposing that relations with Moscow should not be toughened up but rather, on the contrary, that a step be taken to accommodate Russia. Thus, Congressman Curt Weldon believes that in the context of the increase in anti-American influence in Russia it would be very appropriate to abolish the Jackson-Vanik Amendment. In Vladimir Petrosyan's opinion, this could be a goodwill gesture timed to coincide with the upcoming meeting between Presidents Putin and Bush.

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