House Debates Bill To Suspend Trade Relations With Russia

The US House of Representatives is now debating the 'Suspending Normal Trade Relations with Russia and Belarus Act'. The House livestream can be followed here.

• Rep Kevin Brady (R-TX) the ranking Republican on Ways and Means Committee says: 'There is still yet more Congress can do. We would like to see Congress sanction Russian energy companies so they can't continue to profit and fuel the war machine.'
• Ways and Means Committee Chair Rep Richard Neal (D-MA) says: 'We will take that impactful step and place even greater economic pressure on Putin and his brutal regime. We must do everything in our power to hold Russia accountable for the atrocities it is committing.'
• This bill pushes further that previous trade measures against Russia and could put Russia in a group with Cuba and North Korea, the only countries to not have normal trade relations with the United States.
• The move that would also allow the US to impose higher tariffs on Russian goods. The bill states: 'The President may proclaim increases in the rates of duty applicable to products of the Russian Federation or the Republic of Belarus.'