Blog 1

 On January 23, 2013 the article “Russia’s Global Trade Agenda” was written by Will Pomeranz. In this article he talked in depth about Russia’s entering into the World Trade Organization and the ramifications of that decision. It brought immediate rewards to other countries that were already members of the WTO, but Russia came into the picture with less of a celebration than anticipated.  

 This was a smart move on Russia’s part; they are aware that with any gains that would come from joining the WTO, there would also be losses. Other members of the WTO are excited for the opportunity to access the Russian market.  Putin is quoted as saying, “We should understand that the initial period in WTO will require a serious adjustment of our economy.”

In the very beginning of its membership, Russia came out saying that they are very against protectionism. There has been some controversy about this, given that Russia has imposed a recycling fee to limit car imports, proposed quotas on foreign films, and has held no tolerance for meat imports containing the feed additive ractopamine. This may not have been the best start for Russia.

 Russia has been seen addressing it’s overall lack of competitiveness as a nation. It aspires, along with other BRICS countries, to rewrite the rules of global trade. Putin took note of the high levels of offshore investments and wanted to change this. He decided that the best way to reverse the use of these offshore companies is to create a legal system that business has confidence in. This hasn’t been the easiest thing to do and the final outcome left both Russia and multinational countries reluctant to invest in Russia without the option of impleading abroad. Becoming a member of such a large international trade organization like the WTO is a huge step for Russia. Even though there have been rough patches, such roughness was expected and the future is bright.