Join The Club, Russia Told

Sun Herald

Sunday November 12, 2006

By ASHLEY SEAGER LONDON

RUSSIA and the United States have announced a bilateral deal that will finally allow the Russians to join the World Trade Organisation after 13 years of trying.

"We have an agreement in principle and are finalising the details," US trade representative Susan Schwab said. "This agreement will mark an important step in Russia attaining membership in the WTO."

The Russian trade ministry confirmed the agreement and said negotiators hoped to have a deal ready to sign at the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation Forum in Hanoi this week.

The deal was "a clear indication of Russia's efforts to participate fully in and benefit from the rules-based global trading system", Ms Schwab said.

The agreement removes an irritant in the relationship between the two countries.

Moscow accused Washington of dragging out negotiations and was disappointed when a deal was not reached in July at the Group of Eight summit in St Petersburg.

Russia is the largest economy outside the 149-member WTO and its efforts to join have been bogged down in trying to reach an agreement with the US, the last major country whose approval it needs to join.

Analysts suggest that Russia's accession might soften its opposition to sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program.

US President George Bush will meet his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, next week in Moscow on his way to the Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation meeting.

Separately, China's commerce ministry released new projections estimating that its trade surplus would grow to a record $150 billion this year, 50 per cent larger than the 2005 figure.

The trade gap has strained relations with the US, which has an enormous trade deficit and which accuses China of artificially holding down the value of its currency to boost its exports.

Beijing said last week that the trade surplus hit a record monthly high in October of $23.8 billion, the fifth monthly record this year.

Exports and imports are growing at double-digit rates, but import growth has slowed amid government efforts to cool off an investment boom that Chinese leaders worry could ignite a financial crisis.

© 2006 Sun Herald

Back to News Index | Back to Home