Department of Commerce Announces Market Economy Status for the Russian Federation

According to a statement released by the U.S. Department of Commerce's BISNIS program the DOC's Import Administration announced Thursday its determination that Russia has made the transition to a market economy for the for purposes of the U.S. antidumping and countervailing duty laws. This decision is the culmination of a nine-month, public investigation conducted under U.S. law.

The effective date for Russia's graduation is April 1, 2002. As a result of the Department's finding, the U.S.-countervailing duty law will now apply to Russia. Furthermore, the Department will now use the standard market economy methodology in antidumping cases once a sufficient period of time has passed so that adequate market economy data is available.

The Decision Memorandum may be found on Import Administration's website: www.ia.ita.doc.gov

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Donald Evans made the following statement regarding the announcement: "I congratulate Russia for their designation as a market economy under U.S. law. This decision by the Commerce Department was made in accordance of the law and reflects the tremendous economic changes that Russia has made over the last decade."