ZCZC
BCN-23
RUSSIA-US-IMPORT
Moscow slaps retaliatory duties on US imports
MOSCOW, July 5, 2018 (BSS/TASS) – Russia imposed extra duties from 25 to
40% on import of certain US goods in response to steel and aluminum duties
earlier set by the US, the Ministry of Economic Development said on Friday.
“Compensating measures apply as additional, higher rates of import duties
from 25% to 40% of the price of imported goods. They will cover certain US
goods, whose counterparts are produced in Russia,” Minister Maxim Oreshkin
said. “In particular, measures apply to certain types of road construction
machinery, oil and gas equipment, metalworking and rock drilling tools and
optic fiber,” he said.
Extra duties will support Russian manufacturers of counterpart produce and
will make it possible for them to substitute US supplies to the domestic
market, the minister said.
Russia may introduce in three years additional duties on the import of
goods from the United States as a retaliatory measure, since the current
countermeasures do not completely cover the damage to Russian exporters
caused by the actions of the US authorities, the Economic Development
Ministry said.
“The damage from US trade restrictions for Russian exporters is estimated
at $537.6 mln. This is the amount of additional duties Russian suppliers are
obliged to pay in the US. On the current stage our higher duties cover only
part of the damage – $87.6 mln. This is the compensation Russia has the right
for under WTO rules,” the ministry reports.
The rest of the compensatory measures Russia will be able to introduce
either in three years after the additional duties in the US come into effect
– that is, on March 21, 2021, or if the WTO states that the US measures do
not comply with the rules of organization, the ministry said.
The United States introduced higher import duties on steel and aluminum
products on March 23 of this year.
BSS/TASS/HR/1310