Rep. Suozzi introduces bill to give Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan PNTR status

Rep. Thomas Suozzi (D-NY), a House Ways & Means Committee member, introduced a bill last week to give Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan permanent normal trade relations status. The legislation targets an amendment to the Trade Act of 1974 allowing the denial of PNTR to non-market economies with emigration restrictions. The so-called Jackson-Vanik amendment, aimed at pressuring the Soviet Union over human rights, has continued to prevent Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, all former Soviet republics, from establishing PNTR with the U.S...