Russia will appeal against the court for the first time
Russia, apparently, is going to be considered against Russian metallurgists in the WTO. “I instruct the government to conduct a comprehensive industry review of the legitimacy of the decisions of Western counterparties and prepare updated information on our activities in the WTO,” Vladimir Putin said at a meeting on the situation. The Cabinet of Ministers must submit its proposal by June 1. This is the first time that the president, in connection with the restrictions being introduced, recalled the violation of WTO practice by the collective West.
The metallurgical complex was among, in most cases, rejected from acceptance after the hostilities in Ukraine. Unlike oil and gas, Russian metallurgists can be easily replaced (for example, China or India), so the West had, as they say, a free hand. “We are talking not only about a ban on the supply of finished products, but also about the acquisition of certain components for the production of rolled metal, steel sheets, fittings, etc.,” Putin said. According to the statement, unfriendly measures against metallurgists were taken “for the sake of momentary interests” and violate the justification of the WTO, the commitment of the participants was “constantly repeated by colleagues”. In this regard, Putin instructed the government to send comprehensive feedback and report on the new responses of “our actions” to the WTO. It turned out that in 2014 there were repeated cases of challenging counter-sanctions imposed by Moscow, fines that violate fair free trade. Regarding the warning of sanctions pressure in 2022, there were calls to withdraw from the WTO as a useless “dead” organization. However, the WTO provides clear rules for identifying suspicious cases, and Putin has repeatedly said that Russia is not going to leave global trade. Just looking for new partners.
“Taking into account the expected changes in the structure of production and supply of Russian metallurgical products,” the president said at the meeting. Business, according to his application, has already begun to rebuild logistics and production chains, find new buyers and buyers. As for unfriendly countries, they will face a sharp rise in metals, which will pull inflation and a decrease in the reduction of ordinary Europeans. “This is the price of the decisions made,” Putin summed up.
He proposes to the government and business to develop a new model of industrial development based on domestic demand. “It needs to be supported and stimulated through the volume of housing and infrastructure construction and the wide production of goods, where an increase in metallurgical production is used,” Putin said. In accordance with the norms associated with the export of metals, Russia consumed about half of the production. To sharply increase demand in order to avoid overstocking and stopping blast furnaces is not an easy task. Large buyers of metal – car factories – are themselves under closure. Experts predict that metal consumption in the Russian Federation may decrease by 15-20%. Growth in consumption, taking into account the increase in price.
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Russia will appeal against the court for the first time