Russia to end tariffs on Farm Machinery

Russian Prime Minister Putin announced that the government will not continue the recently-imposed tariffs on agricultural machinery. The tariffs, which increased costs for foreign imports by as much as 25 percent, were aimed at helping domestic producers, who will now benefit from subsidies. US companies John Deere and Caterpillar both saw Russian sales plummet drastically after the new duties were imposed. On a perhaps related note, John Deere announced that it will invest $500 million in Russia over the next few years to develop its Russian manufacturing capacity.