Russia looks to boost bilateral trade with US
Moscow wants to improve trade with the US and possibly create a free trade zone, according to First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov.
“We have proposed...establishing a comprehensive economic
agenda that would...mean creating a kind of a free trade zone by
a certain period,” RIA Novosti quotes Shuvalov as saying in
Washington DC on Wednesday.
“Although it is not called a free trade agreement, in essence
the creation of institutions means this,” Shuvalov added.
The two countries would first try to harmonize standards, as well
as make sure their economic entities are transparent, the Deputy
PM said.
The Russian proposal includes measures to increase trade between
the two countries, which was estimated at $40 billion last year,
or 1 percent of total US trade, Bloomberg reports.
Bilateral trade between Russia and the US has been developing
fast, as the turnover has grown 70 percent since 2009, according
to Bloomberg data.
The US is also seeking to expand economic cooperation with
Russia, as companies there “still recognize Russia as an
enticing market because it’s big,” Jeff Mankoff, Deputy
Director of the Russia and Eurasia program at the Center for
Strategic & International Studies in Washington, told
Bloomberg.
Shuvalov was on a three-day visit to Washington to meet with US
investors, US Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker, and US Trade
Representative Michael Froman in New York and Washington.
Russia and the US will continue talks at the next G8 summit that
will take place in the southern Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi
in June 2014, Shuvalov said. White House advisers said they
expect President Obama to attend the summit.
