Poultry groups and companies including Hormel Foods and Kraft Foods have joined a coalition of U.S. business interests urging Congress to pass a bill that would improve access to Russia’s growing markets.
Noting Russia will join the World Trade Organization by mid-summer, the group is seeking U.S. legislation that would make it easier for U.S. manufacturers, farmers and service companies to access the country’s market-opening commitments and increase exports to that country.
In a letter to Congress signed by more than 150 U.S. companies and organizations, the group called passage of such a bill “the top trade priority on the U.S. business community’s legislative agenda this year.”
Specifically, it wants Congress to give Permanent Normal Trade Relations status to Russia, replacing a condition tied to a provision of the U.S. trade law enacted in the 1970s known as the Jackson-Vanik amendment. Russia has met the condition — that Jews be allowed to emigrate freely — each year since 1994, according to the group, called the Coalition for U.S.-Russia Trade.
The letter,which can be viewed here, is signed by the National Chicken Council, National Turkey Federation and other poultry groups, along with companies ranging from General Electric and General Motors to Goldman Sachs, Wal-Mart and Walt Disney.
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