US Senator Calls for End to Cold War-Era Trade Restrictions on Kazakhstan

Senator Mark Rubio addressed the long-standing Jackson-Vanik amendment during his confirmation hearing for Secretary of State in the Trump administration, Orda.kz reports.

He suggested it's time to lift these trade restrictions on Central Asian nations.

The discussion emerged when Senator Steve Daines raised the issue during House hearings:

I think it's a relic of a bygone era. Some people think the amendment can be used to protect human rights or to pressure countries to follow our path, as opposed to Russia. But I think that's absurd, said Rubio.

He highlighted Kazakhstan's case, pointing to its successful World Trade Organization membership as evidence of its transition to a market economy.

However, Rubio acknowledged that removing the amendment would require legislative action and expressed hope for bipartisan support.

Dating back to 1974, the Jackson-Vanik amendment was initially designed to pressure the Soviet Union over its restrictive emigration policies and human rights violations.

While most former Soviet states, including Russia, have been freed from these restrictions, they remain in place for Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, and Belarus.

This issue has a long history of diplomatic discussion.

Former US Ambassador Larry Napper recently shared an account of then-President Nursultan Nazarbayev raising this concern during a December 2001 visit to Washington.

At a business lunch with Vice President Dick Cheney and Bush administration officials, Nazarbayev argued that the restrictions were unfair to independent Kazakhstan, which had no connection to the Soviet-era policies the amendment was meant to address.

Original Author: Igor Ulitin