WTO threatens Russian pork

Russian pig farmers are nervously awaiting the country’s accession into the World Trade Organization: Under WTO commitments, Russia will reduce the import duty to zero in 2019 from 15 percent now for pork entering the country within a government quota. Outside the quota, the duty will slide to 65 percent from the current 75 percent. As of 2020, the country will scrap pork quotas and introduce a flat duty of no ...

By , a professor at Indiana University’s Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies.

Russian pig farmers are nervously awaiting the country's accession into the World Trade Organization:

Russian pig farmers are nervously awaiting the country’s accession into the World Trade Organization:

Under WTO commitments, Russia will reduce the import duty to zero in 2019 from 15 percent now for pork entering the country within a government quota. Outside the quota, the duty will slide to 65 percent from the current 75 percent.

As of 2020, the country will scrap pork quotas and introduce a flat duty of no more than 25 percent.

I still half expect Putin to throw a populist wrench into the works at the last minute. And a dust-up with the West in defense of Russian farmers might be a welcome distraction at the moment.

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

More from Foreign Policy

Newspapers in Tehran feature on their front page news about the China-brokered deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia to restore ties, signed in Beijing the previous day, on March, 11 2023.
Newspapers in Tehran feature on their front page news about the China-brokered deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia to restore ties, signed in Beijing the previous day, on March, 11 2023.

Saudi-Iranian Détente Is a Wake-Up Call for America

The peace plan is a big deal—and it’s no accident that China brokered it.

Austin and Gallant stand at podiums side by side next to each others' national flags.
Austin and Gallant stand at podiums side by side next to each others' national flags.

The U.S.-Israel Relationship No Longer Makes Sense

If Israel and its supporters want the country to continue receiving U.S. largesse, they will need to come up with a new narrative.

Russian President Vladimir Putin lays flowers at the Moscow Kremlin Wall in the Alexander Garden during an event marking Defender of the Fatherland Day in Moscow.
Russian President Vladimir Putin lays flowers at the Moscow Kremlin Wall in the Alexander Garden during an event marking Defender of the Fatherland Day in Moscow.

Putin Is Trapped in the Sunk-Cost Fallacy of War

Moscow is grasping for meaning in a meaningless invasion.

An Iranian man holds a newspaper reporting the China-brokered deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia to restore ties, in Tehran on March 11.
An Iranian man holds a newspaper reporting the China-brokered deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia to restore ties, in Tehran on March 11.

How China’s Saudi-Iran Deal Can Serve U.S. Interests

And why there’s less to Beijing’s diplomatic breakthrough than meets the eye.