Russian President Dmitry Medvedev discussed the prospect of repealing the Cold War-era Jackson-Vanik Amendment, a major hurdle in bilateral trade, with Max Baucus, chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance, the presidential press office reported on Tuesday.
“The meeting between Medvedev and Baucus was held yesterday and focused on repealing the Jackson-Vanik Amendment,” the press office said.
The amendment, named after Congressmen Henry M. Jackson and Charles Vanik, was introduced in 1974 to restrict trade with the Soviet Union and other non-market economies until they allowed free emigration, especially of Jews and other religious minorities.
The amendment limits trade with Russia and is an obstacle to the application of WTO rules between the two countries.
U.S. President Barack Obama announced in mid-November after his talks with Medvedev that the U.S. administration was launching consultations with the Congress on repealing the notorious amendment.
The United States' new ambassador to Russia, Michael McFaul, said last week that the U.S. administration would seek the termination of the amendment this year.
Baucus also held meetings on Monday with First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov and Economics Minister Elvira Nabiullina, discussing broader bilateral trade designed to open new opportunities for U.S. businesses and create thousands of new jobs.
