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November13,201

FormerU.S.PolicymakersonBothSidesoftheAisleAgree:CongressMustApproveRussiaPNTR

ActionNeededtoEnsureAmericaFullyBenefitsfromRussiasWTOMembershipandMarket-OpeningCommitments

- FormerU.S.TradeRepresentativesCharleneBarshefskyandSusanC.Schwab, POLITICOOp-ed,September11,2012

- FormerU.S.SecretaryofCommerceDonaldL.EvansandFormerU.S.SenatorandGovernorCharlesRobb, LettertoHouseWaysandMeansCommitteeLeadership,June20,2012

- FormerU.S.TradeRepresentativesSusanC.Schwab,CharleneBarshefsky,MichaelKantor,CarlaA.Hills,ClaytonK.YeutterandWilliamE.BrockIII, LettertoCongressionalLeadership,June19,2012

ItsTimeforCongresstoApproveRussiaPNTRandHelpU.S.CompaniesandWorkersCompete!

LearnmoreaboutRussiaPNTRandtheimportanceoftradewithRussiaforeachstateat www.brt.org/russia.

BusinessRoundtable(BRT)isanassociationofchiefexecutiveofficersofleadingU.S.companieswithmorethan$7.3trillioninannualrevenuesand

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annuallyinresearchanddevelopmentequalto61percentofU.S.privateR&Dspending.Ourcompaniespay$182billionindividendstoshareholde

andgeneratenearly$500billioninsalesforsmallandmedium-sizedbusinessesannually.

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Until Congress approves PNTR, however, and graduates Russia from Jackson-Vanik, the

U.S. cannot claim all the benefits of having Russia take on the obligations that come with

WTO membership. Meanwhile, the other 150-plus WTO countries, including our biggest

competitors, will most likely press their advantage in the Russian market to land contracts and winnew opportunities for their exporters at the expense of U.S. workers, farmers, service providers

and manufacturers.

[W]e believe the United States must extend PNTR status to take full advantage of

Russias WTO membership. This will encourage economic recovery by significantly

expanding U.S. exports to Russia, creating more U.S. jobs across a range of

important economic sectors, and ensuring favorable market access for U.S.

companies.

Russias accession to the WTO will give American workers, farmers, and businesses a significant new

opportunity to expand their exports to Russia and help strengthen U.S.-Russia commercial relations. It is

estimated that U.S. exports of goods and services to Russia could doublefrom $11 billion in 2011 to $22 billion

in 2017. Unfortunately, the United States will not be able to fully realize these benefits until Congress passes

legislation graduating Russia from the Jackson-Vanik amendment and permanently granting Russia PNTR.

http://twitter.com/#!/BizRoundtablehttp://www.linkedin.com/company/business-roundtable?goback=%2Ecps_1242742140182_1&trk=co_search_resultshttp://www.facebook.com/BusinessRoundtable?ref=tshttp://businessroundtable.org/news-center/former-trade-representatives-urge-pntr-approval/http://bipartisanpolicy.org/library/letters-and-testimony/letter-house-committee-ways-and-means-chairman-dave-camp-and-ranking-mhttp://www.politico.com/news/stories/0912/81045.html