Russia Joins WTO

A vendor waits for customers at a Moscow market, Russia, Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2012. On Wednesday Russia joins the World Trade Organization, 19 years after it first began negotiating entry into the group, which restricts import duties and subsidies in an attempt to create a truly level playing field for international trade. While consumers here are expected to benefit from the lower cost of imported goods, some worry that struggling industries long coddled by state subsidies, like agriculture and the automobile industry, would suffer from foreign competition. <AP Photo/Misha Japaridze>

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