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Summary:
At several meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin, President George W. Bush stated that his administration will work with the Congress to grant Russia permanent "normal trade relations" (PNTR) status. The change in Russia's trade status will require legislation to lift the restrictions currently applied to Russia under Title IV of the Trade Act of 1974, which includes the "freedom-of-emigration" requirements of the Jackson-Vanik amendment. On November 19, 2006, U.S. and Russian officials signed the bilateral agreement on Russia's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO). This step allowed Russia to move much closer to acceding to the WTO and also made it likely that the 110th Congress will confront the issue of whether to grant Russia PNTR. This report will be updated as events warrant.
