Russia closes in on WTO entry
MOSCOW — Russia said on Tuesday it would lobby hard for its interests as a member of the World Trade Organization after lawmakers voted to ratify its accession, promising further friction after 18 years of often gruelling talks on joining the trade rules club.
The lower house vote clears the final political obstacle to Russia’s long-awaited WTO entry under a deal reached last December that would ease import tariffs and open up the world’s ninth-largest economy to foreign investment.
“Membership creates the possibility to pursue our interests inside the WTO and that of course requires a certain aggression,” Economy Minister Andrei Belousov said after the State Duma endorsed accession with a 30seat majority.
Russia’s epic accession talks were characterized by disputes and delays that earned Russian President Vladimir Putin a reputation as a prickly negotiator. He pulled the plug on talks in 2009, announcing instead that Russia would build a customs union with two fellow former Soviet republics — Kazakhstan and Belarus.
Many trade diplomats have colleagues working at the United Nations in Geneva, just up the hill from the WTO, who have witnessed bruising diplomacy between Russia and its opponents over the deepening crisis in Syria.
There are fears too that Russian entry could have an impact similar to that of China’s arrival as a WTO member in 2001 — an event that helped create a power stalemate that has held up the broader discussion on opening up global commerce.
“There’s some anxiety because we know there’s not going to be a honeymoon. With the Chinese there was a honeymoon, but with Russia it’s going to be hot very soon,” said one trade diplomat.
“I’m sure that sort of stuff will start off pretty quickly,” said another. “It’ll be interesting to see whether they come out with all guns blazing.”
Pending approval by Russia’s upper house of parliament and Putin’s signature — both of which are formalities — Russia would become a fully-fledged WTO member in 30 days.
Post-Soviet Russia is a hybrid on the world stage: A veto-wielding member of the UN Security Council and member of the Group of Eight powerful nations, it has long been the largest outsider in the global trade arena.
Economists and trade experts expect Moscow to keep its posture on trade separate, by and large, from great-power diplomacy — although trade frictions with the United States could yet morph into a broader setback for bilateral relations.
The U.S. Congress must still repeal a Cold War-era provision called the JacksonVanik amendment in order to accord Russia permanent normal trade ties. Failure to do so would allow Russia under WTO rules to deny the United States most-favoured status.
“When China joined the WTO in 2001 there was a lot of nervousness, and a lot of people thought that China was ‘too big’ for the WTO,” said Brendan McGivern, executive partner and head of the WTO practice at law firm White & Case in Geneva.
“All these fears that China was too big or too difficult to integrate into the WTO were all for nothing … I see the same with the Russians.”