The administration also promised to help get rid of smaller irritants such as the Jackson-Vanik amendment of the 1970s, a cold-war relic that denies Russia most-favoured-nation trading status because of Soviet restrictions on Jewish emigration.
Members of Congress also have joined the fray, raising the stakes at a time when the Clinton administration is already in the midst of a lobbying effort to convince reluctant lawmakers to approve permanent Normal Trade Relations status with China (formerly known as most-favoured-nation trading relations).