Strong House Passage of Russia PNTR Sets Stage for Senate Action

Today, the tech industry celebrates the successful House passage of the Russia PNTR legislation.  We commend the House for acting in a strong bipartisan fashion to put the needs of American businesses and workers first.  The final vote tally was 365-43. 

Now it’s the Senate’s turn.  Majority Leader Reid has stated that passing Russia PNTR is on his agenda for the lame duck session of congress.  Let’s hope the momentum following strong House support will carryover to the Senate for a quick passage.  

PNTR with Russia allows American companies to compete with stronger safeguards, more predictability and reduced tariffs.  It opens the world’s 9th largest market and ensures American companies don’t lose important market share to foreign competitors.  This is particularly important to the high tech sector.  With a dynamic and growing IT sector that is expected to grow 15 percent in 2012 alone, Russia is a key destination for U.S. exports of information and communications technology products.

There are many reasons to be pleased with today’s House action, but there is more work to be done. The tech industry remains committed to working with our WTO allies to ensure Russia honors its commitment to join the Information Technology Agreement (ITA) as part of its WTO accession package.  

The tech sector applauds the House for today’s passage of Russia PNTR. We look forward to supporting the Senate as they work to schedule a vote as soon as possible.  

Public Policy Tags: Trade & Investment

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