U.S. Senate Passes Bill Suspending Normal Trade Relations with Russia and Belarus

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The U.S. Senate passed a bill today suspending Normal Trade Relations with the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus. The next step will be for the President to sign the bill and then it will become law. On the following day, the regular Customs duty applied to goods entering the United States from Russia or Belarus will no longer benefit from the “Most Favored Nation” rate (so-called column 1 duties) but will be charged a, usually, higher regular duty (so-called column 2 duties).

In addition, the law gives the President the authority to increase the rate of duty applied to imports from Russia or Belarus upon consultation with certain legislative committees in the U.S. House of Representative and U.S. Senate. The bill also provides the President with the authority to resume the application of the “Most Favored Nation” to specific products in consultation with those same committees.

Note that the passage of this law will not impact any antidumping or countervailing duties that are currently in place, or any section 232 duties that are currently in place. Any increase in duties resulting from the passage of this law will be charged in addition to such other duties.

We expect that this bill will pass very soon and, as noted above, these provisions will be implemented on the day following passage. If you have any questions regarding potential duties please let us know.