A few days ago I posted a few short notes on several
trade-related happenings (here). There have been
some recent developments that are worth pointing out.
Farm Bill. I
mentioned that, as of last week, Congress was still stuck on a Farm Bill, and
there was talk of a so-called “dairy cliff” . . . The expiration of the existing Farm Bill provisions
would have caused the cost of some dairy products to spike in the short
term. There is now agreement on a
temporary solution, however. Provisions
of the existing (2008) farm bill will be kept in place as a holdover, while lawmakers
negotiate a broader package in the next Congress.
U.S.-Russia relations. I also noted that on December 14 the U.S. normalized
trade relations with Russia by repealing the Jackson–Vanik Amendment, which
served as a potential restriction on trade between the countries. The repeal notwithstanding, the U.S.-Russia
relationship took a hit for another reason. Just as the Amendment was repealed, the U.S.
also adopted a new law, the Sergei
Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act. The Magnitsky Law is designed to punish
Russian officials suspected of human rights abuses, via visa restrictions and
asset freezing. (The title and impetus
for the law were inspired by the arrest/death of an anticorruption lawyer,
Sergei Magnitsky, who died in a Russian prison.) It is widely believed that the Magnitsky Law led
to the recently implemented Russian legislation that bans
Americans from adopting Russian children (see here).
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