After a brief floor discussion, today the House of Representatives passed the "Suspending Normal Trade Relations with Russia and Belarus Act" (H.R. 7108) with a vote of 424-8. The full text is here. A summary is here.
In terms of comparisons to previous legislation in this area, this bill seems pretty similar to the Senate legislation described here. That may indicate the bill could become law soon as the House and Senate are coordinating their efforts.
The key parts of the text are as follows.
First, this is the suspending normal trade relations part:
SEC. 3. SUSPENSION OF NORMAL TRADE RELATIONS WITH THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION AND THE REPUBLIC OF BELARUS.
(a) NONDISCRIMINATORY TARIFF TREATMENT.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, beginning on the day after the date of the enactment of this Act, the rates of duty set forth in column 2 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States shall apply to all products of the Russian Federation and of the Republic of Belarus.
(b) AUTHORITY TO PROCLAIM INCREASED COLUMN 2 RATES.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The President may proclaim increases in the rates of duty applicable to products of the Russian Federation or the Republic of Belarus, above the rates set forth in column 2 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States.
(2) PRIOR CONSULTATION.—The President shall, not later than 5 calendar days before issuing any proclamation under paragraph (1), consult with the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Finance of the Senate regarding the basis for and anticipated impact of the proposed increases to rates of duty described in paragraph (1).
(3) TERMINATION.—The authority to issue proclamations under this subsection shall terminate on January 1, 2024.
Section 4 has a long and detailed set of provisions on resuming application of Column 1 rates and restoring normal trade relations if Russia/Belarus withdraws forces/ceases hostilities, poses no immediate threat to NATO allies/partners, and "recognizes the right of the people of Ukraine to independently and freely choose their own government." A lot of the power is with the president, but the legislation gives Congress a say in the process as well.
Section 5 then addresses WTO issues:
SEC. 5. COOPERATION AND ACCOUNTABILITY AT THE WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION.
The United States Trade Representative shall use the voice and influence of the United States at the WTO to—
(1) condemn the recent aggression in Ukraine;
(2) encourage other WTO members to suspend trade concessions to the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus;
(3) consider further steps with the view to suspend the Russian Federation’s participation in the WTO; and
(4) seek to halt the accession process of the Republic of Belarus at the WTO and cease accession related work.
Lastly, Section 6 has some updates to the Magnitsky human rights sanctions.
