The Coalition for U.S.-Russia Trade, comprised to date of more than 70 business associations, companies and agricultural groups, including  the National Association of Manufacturers and the American Farm Bureau Federation, welcomed the announcement made by the WTO’s Ministerial Conference in Geneva to formally invite Russia to become a member of the global rules-based body.

The Coalition’s task now is to work with the U.S. Congress and the Obama Administration to pass necessary legislation that makes Russia’s market concessions fully available to U.S. business and agriculture.

“Russia is the 11th largest economy in the world, yet it is still not bound by the international principles and standards of the WTO.  Today’s invitation brings Russia one step closer to abiding by and adhering to global rules.

We applaud the negotiators from the United States, Russia and other WTO members, without whose dedication and hard work this historic moment would not have been possible,” said Edward Verona, President and CEO of the U.S.-Russia Business Council (USRBC), the Washington, D.C.-based trade association that serves as Secretariat of the Coalition for U.S.-Russia Trade.

“The terms of Russia’s WTO accession agreement will provide businesses in the United States the opportunity to operate with greater transparency and predictability in the Russian market – but only once the U.S. Congress graduates Russia from the Jackson-Vanik amendment and extends Russia Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR),” Verona added.

Russia’s WTO membership agreement stipulates that the Russian government must ratify the accession package by June 15, 2012.  Once the agreement is approved by Russia’s legislature and signed by the Russian President, the Russian government will notify the WTO of its approval, and 30 days later Russia will officially become a member of the WTO.

For now, the Obama Administration has invoked what is known as “non-application,” notifying the WTO that the United States cannot yet offer Russia immediate and unconditional free trade status, as WTO rules require.  Thus, Russia is not obligated to grant U.S. business and agriculture full rights to the wide range of concessions it made to become a WTO member.

Thus, while the achievement of a high-standards deal on Russia’s accession is cause for celebration, the U.S. business and agricultural communities realize their work is not done.

“We now need to help Congress understand that, without Russia PNTR, the U.S. private sector is going to miss out on growing export and investment opportunities in Russia that will create and sustain jobs here in the United States,” said Randi Levinas, Executive Director of the Coalition and Executive Vice President of the USRBC.

“The Jackson-Vanik amendment no longer provides us with leverage in our relationship with Russia.  It now stands only as an impediment for U.S. economic interests. We will be working hard in the coming months with the Congressional leadership, the committees of jurisdiction and the Administration so that U.S. interests can take full advantage of Russia’s accession in a timely fashion.

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With the prospect of a debt default looming just over the horizon, the House of Representatives tonight passed compromise legislation to raise the debt ceiling.

The House voted in favor of the bill by a margin of 269-161 after a dramatic day of legislative wrangling on Capitol Hill. Although the compromise was announced last night, the leaders of both parties had to spend much of today trying to win over their respective caucuses.

The bill is essentially a modified version of John Boehner’s (R-OH) plan, which passed the House last week. It would immediately raise the debt ceiling by $400 billion, while allowing President Obama to order a $500 billion increase in the fall, unless both houses of Congress vote to block it. It also imposes spending cuts of $1 trillion by setting ten-year caps on the budgets of Cabinet agencies.

A further debt ceiling increase of up to $1.5 trillion will be granted if Congress can offset it through additional spending cuts. A special bipartisan committee of both houses will be responsible for proposing these cuts, but if the committee cannot agree or Congress does not enact their proposals, the White House will be empowered to order across-the-board cuts, including reductions in defense spending and farm subsidies. However, the debt ceiling increase could still go through if Congress approves a balanced-budget amendment to the Constitution and sends it to the states for ratification.

Neither side ended up truly winning the day. While Obama and the Democrats got their wish for a debt ceiling increase that will see them through the 2012 election, they will not be able to raise taxes on the wealthy in order to reduce the debt. And while the Republicans succeeded in wringing deep spending cuts from the Democrats, the agreed-upon cuts are not as deep as the ones the House passed last week. It is also far from certain that a balanced-budget amendment will actually go to the states since it is no longer required in order to raise the debt ceiling.

Like most compromises, this one was not to everyone’s liking. Presidential hopeful Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) announced her intention to vote against the bill, claiming that it did not cut spending enough. “Someone has to say no, I will,” she said.

At the other end of the political spectrum, the co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva (D-AZ), also lambasted the bill. “This deal weakens the Democratic Party as badly as it weakens the country. We have given much and received nothing in return,” he said.

The Senate will likely take up the bill tomorrow, where it is almost certain to pass, given the bipartisan show of support in the House and the fact that a debt default could be just around the corner if they balk.

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