Missile Policy Prompts Plea for Trade Concessions

By Adriel Bettelheim | September 18, 2009 2:22 PM | | Comments (0)

Less than a day after President Obama scrapped the missle-defense system championed by George W. Bush, Russia's leaders called on the administration and Congress to lift Cold War-era trade restrictions, including curbs on sensitive technology transfers.

At a business forum in the Black Sea city of Sochi, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin praised Obama's decision to cancel plans to deploy interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar in the Czech Republic "correct and brave," then pressed for U.S. trade concessions -- particularly the repeal of the so-called Jackson-Vanik amendment to a 1974 trade bill (PL 93-618) that links exports to human rights. The measure -- a long-running source of friction in Washington-Moscow relations that's named for its sponsors, former Sen. Henry Jackson, D-Wash. and Rep. Charles Vanik, D-Ohio, -- was enacted to pressure the Soviet Union to liberalize Jewish emigration.

The Bush missile plan had been viewed as a threat by the Russians. Officials there hope Obama's turnabout is part of a larger thaw in relations between the countries that they can turn to their economic advantage.

Obama administration officials say they are reconfiguring defenses to focus on the threat of medium-range missiles from Iran.

Russia, which is working in tandem with Belarus and Kazakhstan to join the World Trade Organization, wants the United States to axe remaining trade barriers and give its go-ahead to a WTO expansion. But many in Congress believe Russia should first join U.S.-led diplomatic efforts to pressure Iran to abandon its nuclear program. And Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton figuratively threw some cold water on Putin's linkage of the issues during an appearance at the Brookings Institution on Friday, saying the missile decision "was not about Russia. It was about Iran and the threat that its ballistic missile program poses.

"Because of this position, we believe we will be in a far stronger position to deal with that threat, and to do so with technology that works and a higher degree of confidence that what we pledge to do, we can actually deliver," Clinton said.

More from CQ Politics

Categories: Administration, Iran

Tags: Administration, Iran

Post A Comment


(for verification only; will not be published with your comment)