The Carter Administration was seen here today as moving closer towards granting U.S. government trade benefits to the Soviet Union by seeking a waiver from Congress under the Jackson-Vanik Amendment. But no official decision on the exact process is ready for public discussion.
At the State Department today, chief spokesman Hodding Carter said that President Carter “has noted we have been discussing possibilities in this area both with the Congress and with the Soviets. A decision on how we will proceed has not been finally taken.”
The spokesman added, in response to a question whether the current emigration rate for Soviet Jews is sufficient for a waiver of the restrictions in the J-V Amendment, that he could not give a “yes or no” answer to that. He pointed out that Congress must make the decision.
The rate of Soviet Jewish emigration during the past four months would amount to about 50,000 a year. At the time the J-V Amendment was adopted, the minimum goal of emigration was set at about 60,000 annually. In the past few weeks, it is understood that a formula for working out a waiver has been discussed between Secretary of State Cyrus Vance and Soviet Ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin.
Vance and Dobrynin have been discussing the agenda for the summit conference between Soviet President Leonid Brezhnev and Carter, to be held in Vienna June 15-18 with the SALT II agreement as the prime topic, but with trade and the Middle East also slated for discussion.
The J-V Amendment calls for the President to certify assurances from the Soviet government on Soviet policy regarding emigration. Whether these assurances must be in writing is not specified. This establishes a point of debate as to whether Soviet oral assurances given informally would suffice but opponents of any change in the procedure say that in any case, President Carter would have to give the Congress satisfaction that the assurances he receives comply with the views of Congress.
There is little sentiment in the Congress for any repeal of the Jackson-Vanik Amendment but a waiver would enable the Carter Administration to grant Most Favored Nation treatment, if Congress approves, for one year to the Soviets. This would enable the Soviet Union to receive the U.S. government’s trade benefits that the U.S. provides under the tariff laws to nations with which it has the most friendly relations.
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