Analysis and discussion of issues that impact business

I am sure this will further inflame this already touchy subject.

Russia and the United States reached agreement Friday on Moscow’s entry into the World Trade Organization, but final details needed to be resolved for a formal deal to be signed at next week’s summit meeting in Vietnam.

I wish we could avoid the rhetoric, but I'm not very hopeful.

Apparently, the ink isn't dry yet, but it's close.

“We have an agreement in principle and are finalizing the details,” U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab said in a separate announcement. “This agreement will mark an important step in Russia attaining membership in the WTO.”

This has been a work-in-progress for some time.

Observers have linked progress over the WTO to resolving disagreement over how to respond to Iran’s disputed nuclear program.

And here's the carrot.

Russia has resisted sanctions against its commercial partner Iran proposed by the U.S. and its European allies, but analysts have said that a deal over the WTO could persuade Moscow to soften its opposition to punishing Tehran for its refusal to halt sensitive uranium enrichment.

Here's the meat that goes with it.

Russia had earlier hoped to sign a bilateral agreement with Washington as the centerpiece of the Group of Eight Summit, which it hosted in St. Petersburg in July, but talks foundered over sanitary inspections for U.S. beef and pork imports.

Russia had refused a U.S. demand for an immediate increase in imports of American beef and pork before Russia completed a review of America’s food inspection system.

So, it looks like most of the horse trading is just about over.

Russia is the largest economy outside the 149-member WTO. Its efforts to join have been bogged down in trying to reach a bilateral agreement with the United States, the last major country whose approval it needs to join the powerful body that sets global trade rules.

Now, about those rules...