Lawmakers Seek Fast Implementation of REPO Act
A bipartisan group of four lawmakers urged President Joe Biden to swiftly implement the recently enacted Rebuilding Economic Prosperity and Opportunity for Ukrainians (REPO) Act, which authorizes seizing frozen Russian central bank assets in the U.S. to help rebuild Ukraine (see 2401240069).
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Timely, relevant coverage of court proceedings and agency rulings involving tariffs, classification, valuation, origin and antidumping and countervailing duties. Each day, Trade Law Daily subscribers receive a daily headline email, in-depth PDF edition and access to all relevant documents via our trade law source document library and website.
"To show Russia we are serious, it is critical we are seen to be taking steps toward implementing the REPO Act in support of Ukraine," the letter says. “As you well know, Russia shows no signs of relenting on its illegal military campaign or engaging in multilateral talks, so the time to act is now.”
The letter also endorses ongoing U.S.-led talks with allies “to find creative mechanisms for using Russian sovereign funds frozen in their respective jurisdictions.” It suggests an announcement on that front could occur at the Group of Seven nations meeting in June.
The letter, which was publicly released May 21, was signed by House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, Senate Foreign Relations Committee ranking member Jim Risch, R-Idaho, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., and Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio.
Biden signed the REPO Act into law April 24 as part of a wide-ranging national security bill (see 2404240043).