Bill to Authorize President to Grant PNTR to Products of Moldova Introduced
On February 8, 2011, Senator Lugar (R)1 introduced S. 309, which would allow the President to repeal the Jackson-Vanik trade restrictions on Moldovan products and authorize the extension of permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) treatment to products of Moldova. (Senator Lugar introduced an identical bill in 2009.)
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Senator Lugar states that enactment of this bill would "provide an important impetus for improving trade relations between the U.S. and Moldova and advancing Moldova's Western ambitions."
NTR is Vulnerable to Disapproval by Congress Each Year
According to previously issued House Ways and Means Committee advisory, Moldova is subject to the Jackson-Vanik provisions in the Trade Act of 1974 (Act), which govern the extension of NTR to non-market economy (NME) countries that were ineligible for NTR status as the date of enactment of the Act.
Moldova has received NTR status since 1992, subject to annual renewal by the President, which is vulnerable to resolution of disapproval by Congress.
PNTR Would be Permanent, Allow U.S. to Apply WTO to Moldova
Moldova acceded to the World Trade Organization on July 26, 2001; however, the U.S. invoked the non-application clause of the WTO because it had not granted PNTR status to Moldova. Until PNTR is granted to Moldova, the WTO Agreement and the terms of the its accession will not be formally applied between Moldova and the U.S., and U.S. trade relations with Moldova will continue to be governed by bilateral trade agreements (BTAs).
1There are four bipartisan co-sponsors to this bill.
Senator Lugar's report entitled, "Will Russia End Eastern Europe's Last Frozen Conflict?" is available here.
S. 309 is available here.
Press release is available here.