WTO Rules Against U.S. in Cotton Subsidies Fight
The thing about the global marketplace is that policies created to keep voters happy at home don't mean a thing to politicians and business leaders in other countries. The United States found this out again Monday when the World Trade Organization ruled against it in a case involving cotton subsidies. The U.S. could face billions of dollars in trade sanctions for failing to get rid of what WTO says are illegal subsidies.
The ruling is a victory for Brazil and the West African countries that took the case to the WTO, saying the subsidies hurt their own cotton producers. The challenge, which Brazil started in 2002, has been a watershed, "providing ammunition for those who would like to see affluent nations curtail the subsidies they say only impoverish farmers abroad," Reuters reports.
The U.S. is expected to appeal.
Dean Kleckner, a farmer and chairman of the advocacy group Truth About Trade and Technology, writes in a New York Times op-ed that Congress should pay attention to this ruling as it heads into final negotiations over the farm bill. Not only has Brazil won this battle against U.S. cotton, but Mexico is likely to file a complaint against U.S. rice subsidies and Canada against U.S. corn subsidies. Kleckner, the former president of the American Farm Bureau, says the U.S. "must stop subsidizing farmers the way it does" or "risk a series of trade wars."
11:33 AM ET | 10-16-2007 | permalink
