President Barack Obama on Thursday formally granted "permanent normal trade relations" to Russia, following congressional action that cleared the way for him to remove a Cold War-era vestige on trade but also raised tensions with Moscow. "The Russian Federation has been found to be in full compliance with the freedom of emigration requirement" under the 1974 Jackson-Vanik amendment, Obama said in a proclamation.

That provision tied favourable US tariffs rates to the rights of Jews in the former Soviet Union to emigrate freely. The House of Representatives and the Senate overwhelmingly passed legislation allowing Obama to grant permanent normal trade relations, or PNTR, to Russia.

Copyright Reuters, 2012