Trump’s nominee for secretary of state supports lifting the Jackson-Vanik amendment for Central Asia

Trump’s nominee for secretary of state supports lifting the Jackson-Vanik amendment for Central Asia, a move that could reshape U.S. trade and diplomatic relations in the region. The policy shift signals a potential change in Washington’s approach to post-Soviet economies.

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of state says the Jackson-Vanik amendment, a 50-year-old law imposing some restrictions on trade with several countries in Central Asia, is “a relic of an era that’s past” and needs to be lifted. 

U.S. Senator Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican who spoke during a confirmation hearing in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday said that the permanent removal will require legislative action. 
“There are some that argue that we should use that as leverage for human rights concessions or leverage to get them to go stronger in our way as opposed to Russia and the like. But I think in some cases it’s an absurd relic of the past…. So, we will work on this cause I think it’s important,” - he said answering to Senator Steve Daines, a Montana Republican, highlighting Central Asia region as “a part of the world that is often neglected, but has such strategic importance.” Rubio added that Department of Commerce recognized Kazakhstan “a market economy”, and the country had already met the conditions.

Senator Chris Murphy stressed the strategic importance of Central Asia in U.S. foreign policy. He argued that repealing the amendment would signal Washington’s serious commitment to the region. While the amendment’s sanctions were effective in the past, Murphy noted they are now irrelevant to Kazakhstan, which fully complies with international norms.

Background

The Jackson-Vanik Amendment, originally designed to withhold permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) with non-market economies (NME) – primarily former republics of the Soviet Union - for its refusal to allow Jewish emigration, still applies to several US strategic partners in Central Asia, including Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, despite its irrelevance. 

In passing the measure in 1974, congress gave the president the authority to waive Jackson-Vanik restrictions for any given country on a yearly basis. Removing a country permanently from the Jackson-Vanik list requires an act of Congress. 

Since 1991, Congress has passed legislation authorizing the President to determine that Jackson-Vanik should no longer apply to Albania, Armenia, Bulgaria, China, Czechoslovakia, Georgia, Hungary, the Kyrgyz Republic, Moldova, Mongolia, Romania, Russia, Ukraine, and Vietnam. Russia’s PNTR status was suspended in response to its 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan are certified as compliant and receive conditional NTR status, subject to annual review.

Turkmenistan receives temporary NTR status via a presidential waiver. Belarus previously received temporary NTR status under the waiver provision, but it was suspended in response to Belarus’s involvement in Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Cuba and North Korea currently do not receive NTR status.

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