Putin takes WTO for a ride
Vladimir Putin has a flair for policy proclamations. Earlier this week, as he drove across Siberia in a yellow Russian-made Lada, he churned up significant confusion by declaring that Russia would jack up import duties on foreign-made cars. "We’re not, after all, WTO members, so we can afford to do it," he reportedly said. The ...
Vladimir Putin has a flair for policy proclamations. Earlier this week, as he drove across Siberia in a yellow Russian-made Lada, he churned up significant confusion by declaring that Russia would jack up import duties on foreign-made cars. "We're not, after all, WTO members, so we can afford to do it," he reportedly said.
Vladimir Putin has a flair for policy proclamations. Earlier this week, as he drove across Siberia in a yellow Russian-made Lada, he churned up significant confusion by declaring that Russia would jack up import duties on foreign-made cars. "We’re not, after all, WTO members, so we can afford to do it," he reportedly said.
The announcement has left analysts a bit baffled. Prior to Putin’s statement, there had been optimism in many quarters that Russia’s long and confusing dance with the WTO might finally end in full membership. In June, President Obama said that Russia "belonged in the WTO" during a news conference with his Russian counterpart Dmitri Medvedev. Medvedev himself appeared to invest considerable effort in securing American support for Russia’s membership bid. A Medvedev aide put it this way: "it is awkward to keep knocking when the door should be open and we should be welcomed with open arms."
Putin’s statement suggests that Russia itself now may bar the door; if the tariff increases are enacted, they could set back accession negotiations significantly. So what exactly are Russia’s intentions toward the global trade organization? There’s at least a possibility that there is daylight between Medvedev and Putin on trade, and that Putin is leaning in a more protectionist direction as he signals his intent to remain involved in Russian politics.
David Bosco is a professor at Indiana University’s Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies. He is the author of The Poseidon Project: The Struggle to Govern the World’s Oceans. Twitter: @multilateralist
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