Moscow_ The Russian State Duma (lower house) today approved in its third and last reading a package of countermeasures to respond to the sanctions imposed by the United States over the past few months, Prensa Latina reports. 

At the session, 416 lawmakers voted in favored and one abstained, thus approving the Russian response to the unilateral restrictions imposed under the pretext of interference in U.S. affairs or violation of a missile treaty.

The package submitted to vote in the first reading consisted of 16 punitive measures that were reduced to six in its final version. Everything on the suspension of imports of U.S. medicines was eliminated.

The measure excludes from the sanctions all basic products or those that are only made in the United States, with no analogue products in the world.

The Russian Parliament grants the Government, without presenting a list of goods, the possibility of banning imports of raw materials or other products from western powers.

In addition, it bans foreign companies from the nations involved in the anti-Russia sanctions from signing State contracts.

The package of countermeasures also prohibits the participation of companies from countries that are imposing restrictions on Russia in the privatizations of State properties.

At the same time, Russia wants to impose tariffs worth 537.6 billion dollars on U.S. products whose total value is 3.616 billion dollars, RIA Novosti reported.

The measure, which was submitted to the World Trade Organization (WTO), would be Mowcow's response to Washington's imposition of 25-percent tariffs on steel imports and 10 percent on aluminum purchases from Russia.

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