Washington, D.C. - Today Ambassador Kirk met with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Konstyantyn Gryshchenko. Ambassador Kirk expressed strong U.S. concern about Ukraine’s request to alter tariff bindings on more than 350 products that it agreed to when it joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2008. This action is unprecedented and could undermine the multilateral trading system, which is why almost all of Ukraine’s significant trading partners—over a third of all WTO Members—have joined us in raising similar concerns. Ambassador Kirk and Foreign Minister Gryshchenko agreed to continue working to increase trade and investment between the U.S. and Ukraine, including in the bilateral Trade and Investment Council.
Click here to view Ambassador Kirk’s November 8 letter to Ukrainian First Deputy Prime Minister Valeriy Khoroshkovskiy regarding Ukraine’s request to alter tariff bindings and here to view WTO Members’ November 26 joint statement on this matter.
