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American companies ask to change U.S. draft law on sanctions against Russia

21 July 2017 14:34 (UTC+04:00)
American companies ask to change U.S. draft law on sanctions against Russia

By Kamila Aliyeva

A number of large U.S. companies stand for amending the draft law on tightening sanctions against Russia, expressing concern that its adoption in its present form could adversely affect U.S. business.

The list of such companies is quite extensive. It includes, in particular, the aerospace corporation Boeing, the financial conglomerate Citigroup, the operators of payment systems Mastercard and Visa, the oil and gas corporation ExxonMobil, the energy General Electric, the auto giant Ford, the chemical Dow Chemical, Procter & Gamble and other companies., TASS reported citing CNN

These companies do not advocate a complete rejection of the bill, but believe that its individual provisions can be harmful for American business. Their representatives are negotiating with the congressmen and trying to achieve changes in the draft document.

A new tough package of sanctions against Russia because of its alleged interference in the political processes in the U.S. was previously approved by the Senate on June 15, but has not yet been considered by the House of Representatives.

The proposed sanctions involve a reduction of the maximum period for market financing of Russian banks to 14 days, and companies in the oil and gas sector - to 30 days.

The document also suggests that the U.S. president can impose sanctions on persons who intend to invest in the construction of Russian export pipelines more than $5 million per year or $1 million at a time or to provide projects with services, technologies and information support.

The question of new Russian sanctions has been raised by a number of senators in both parties after the intelligence community announced in January its conclusion that Russia interfered in the 2016 election on behalf of President Donald Trump.

But, the White House promised to block this document if it gets to the president's signature. Earlier, White House spokesman Sarah Sanders said that a new version of the draft law on sanctions poses risks for the implementation of U.S. foreign policy. Currently, the U.S. aims at normalizing relations with Russia and establishing cooperation.

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Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz

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