The United States and Europe are at odds. Putin signed an anti-sanction bill to fight back against the United States

　　□ Our correspondent in Russia, Zhang Chunyou

　　The dispute between Russia and the United States has a long history. In the economic field, the game between the two sides around sanctions and anti-sanctions has never stopped. On June 4, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed an anti-sanction bill against the United States and other countries, providing a legal basis for Russia to formulate countermeasures in the future. The G-7 summit is just around the corner. In the current situation of discord between the United States and Europe due to tariff war, the introduction of this bill may help to urge the EU to stop unreasonable sanctions against Russia.

　　The anti-sanction bill was introduced.

　　The full name of the anti-sanction bill signed by Putin this time is "Measures on Affecting (Counteracting) Unfriendly Acts of the United States and Other Countries". The bill was proposed by a group led by Volodin, chairman of the Russian State Duma (lower house of parliament), and was passed by the Russian State Duma on May 22; Approved by the Russian Federation Council (the upper house of parliament) on May 30; The bill will take effect from the date of Putin’s signing, that is, June 4.

　　The purpose of this bill is to deal with the persistent economic sanctions imposed on Russia by the United States, Europe and other western countries, and to protect Russia’s national interests, security, sovereignty, territorial integrity and citizens’ freedoms and rights from the unfriendly actions of the United States and other countries. It is applicable to the United States and any other countries that take unfriendly measures against Russia, Russian citizens and legal persons, as well as institutions, legal persons and citizens that are under the jurisdiction of these countries and directly or indirectly controlled by them. Borisenko, director of the North American Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry, pointed out that the anti-sanction bill was introduced mainly to cope with the current tense trade environment with the United States.

　　The bill stipulates that the Russian government can terminate or suspend international cooperation under the authorization of the President, prohibit or restrict the import and export of products and raw materials (except for daily necessities not produced in Russia and other countries and personal belongings of citizens), and prohibit or restrict unfriendly institutions from participating in Russian government procurement projects and the privatization process of state-owned assets.

　　Provide a basis for counter-measures

　　The analysis believes that the introduction of the anti-sanctions bill will help the Russian government to formulate corresponding countermeasures to minimize the impact of economic sanctions in the United States and other western countries.

　　With Russia’s strong recovery of Crimea, the United States and Europe began to impose economic sanctions on Russia in 2014. According to the data released by the Russian Foreign Ministry, so far, there are 245 Russian citizens and 439 Russian legal persons sanctioned by the United States. In response to the continued economic sanctions imposed by the United States and other western countries, Russia has taken anti-sanction measures. On June 30 last year, Putin signed an order to extend the validity of Russia’s response measures to Western sanctions until December 31 this year.

　　Economic sanctions are a double-edged sword. While Russia’s economic development is trapped, European and American countries have also suffered a lot of economic losses. Russian media believe that with the introduction of Russia’s anti-sanctions bill, countries such as the United States and Europe, especially those that follow the US policy to impose economic sanctions on Russia, may suffer greater losses, which will also make other countries except the United States more cautious in choosing their policies toward Russia.

　　The United States and Europe do not agree to create opportunities

　　The G-7 Summit will be held on June 8th. On the eve of the summit, the United States’ actions greatly angered traditional allies.

　　A few days ago, the Trump administration announced that it would impose tariffs of 25% and 10% on steel and aluminum imported from the European Union, Canada and Mexico from June 1, respectively, which was immediately condemned by the closest allies of the United States.

　　European Commission President Juncker immediately stated that it was a bad day for world trade, and it was totally unacceptable for a country to take unilateral measures in world trade. At the same time, Juncker expressed his willingness to repair relations with Russia and bluntly said that "it is time to stop attacking Russia".

　　The analysis believes that although the EU "can’t accept" Russia’s recovery of Crimea, Trump’s traditional ally — — The EU’s taxation led to EU retaliation, and the relationship between the two sides was once tense, which provided room for Europe to continue to follow the US economic sanctions against Russia.

　　When will the economic sanctions be lifted?

　　According to the latest World Bank Economic Report on Russia, Russia’s economic growth is expected to be about 1.4% in 2018 and 2019. The Russian Ministry of Economic Development estimates that GDP growth will be 2.1% in 2018, 2.2% in 2019 and 2.3% in 2020.

　　On May 16th, the National Statistical Office of the Russian Federation released data showing that in the first quarter of this year, the Russian economy grew by 1.3% compared with the same period of last year, which exceeded the government’s expectation of 1.1%. However, Nabiulina, governor of the Russian central bank, once said, "Although the Russian economy has adapted to external shocks, internal factors determine the fragility of the Russian economy." Economists here believe that getting rid of external economic sanctions as soon as possible is still an effective way for Russia’s economic recovery compared with the import substitution plan, which has a slower effect.

　　Russia introduced the anti-sanction bill this time, the original intention of which is to safeguard Russia’s own interests, but it is not to carry out the confrontation to the end. If the American allies represented by the European Union can realize that following the footsteps of the United States to sanction Russia will bring losses to their own economic development, the purpose of Russia’s introduction of the bill may have been achieved. As matviyenko, chairman of the Russian Federation Council, said, "If the western countries completely abandon the unreasonable sanctions against Russia, Russia will lift the reverse sanctions".

　　Newspaper, Moscow, June 6 th