North America Edition
The White House is warning Russia against taking steps to seize the assets of US and international companies that have announced plans to suspend operations in Russia or to withdraw from the Russian market in response to Vladimir Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine. Press secretary Jen Psaki was responding to reports in Russian and other news media about a proposal to nationalize the property of major foreign companies that are leaving Russia. Psaki warned that such a step would result in decades of investor distrust. She says Russia also could face legal claims from companies whose property is seized.
Psaki says the White House stands with American companies that are making what she called “tough decisions” about the future of their Russian operations.
According to Russian newspaper Izvestia, the government and the general prosecutor’s office were considering a proposal to nationalize foreign companies that have announced they are pulling out of Russia because of the war in Ukraine. The newspaper said it had a list of nearly 60 companies, including IKEA, McDonald’s, Apple, Microsoft, IBM and Porsche, among others.
It is said that President Biden will announce today that, along with the EU and the Group of Seven countries, the US will move to revoke “most favored nation” trade status for Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. Biden’s move comes as bipartisan pressure has been building in Washington to revoke what is formally known as “permanent normal trade relations” with Russia.
The move would allow the US and allies to impose tariffs on Russian imports.
Source: apnews.com
