China News Agency, Washington, March 17 (Reporter Sha Hanting) The U.S. House of Representatives voted on a bill on the 17th local time to cancel Russia's "most-favored-nation treatment."
The bill was widely supported by Democrats and Republicans, and was passed with 424 votes in favor and 8 against.
The so-called "most-favored-nation treatment" refers to the preferential treatment given to any other country by a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in the fields of trade in goods, trade in services and intellectual property rights, which must be granted immediately and unconditionally to other members.
At present, the United States has banned the import of Russian oil, natural gas, seafood, vodka, etc., which have accounted for 60% of the goods imported by the United States from Russia.
Removing Russia's "most-favored-nation" status would allow the U.S. to impose higher tariffs on other goods imported from Russia, such as steel and aluminum.
Democratic Congressman Richard Neal and Republican Congressman Kevin Brady said when introducing the bill that day that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's speech made the United States "more determined to continue to isolate and weaken Russia" and Russian President Vladimir Putin must be held accountable for its military operations in Ukraine.
A day earlier, Zelensky addressed the U.S. Congress, calling on the U.S. to give Ukraine more military aid and tougher sanctions on Russia.
Next, the Senate will consider and vote on the bill.
If approved, it will be sent to the White House for official signature by the President.
In recent days, the United States has taken several rounds of sanctions against Russia due to Russia’s military operations in Ukraine, including sanctioning Russian President Vladimir Putin and excluding some Russian banks from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) payment system.
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