Reactions to the US Farm Bill
A review of international responses to the US Farm Bill has been provided in the ICTSD BRIDGES Weekly Trade News Digest of May 15th 2002. The World Bank referred to the date of adoption of the US Farm Bill as 'a sad day for world farmers'. According to its data, cotton exporters in west and central Africa alone would gain a further US$250 million per annum if the USA - the world's biggest cotton producer - stopped subsidising domestic cotton production. In contrast, the increase in US farm support could further depress world commodity prices, making imports cheaper than local products in the developing world and ultimately forcing domestic farmers out of business. ICTSD notes in particular how according to the WTO US subsidies under the 'amber box' could exceed US$19.1 billion annually. While the US administration is nominally committed to ensuring that the new farm bill does not violate WTO rules, it is an open question whether they would take on Congress for WTO principles. Comment: The US Farm Bill would appear to make the Marrakech agreement even more of a 'bum deal' for developing countries, with the burdens becoming even more onerous and the benefits of integration into world markets even more remote.
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| Format: | News Item biblioteca |
| Language: | English |
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Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation
2002
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/52713 http://agritrade.cta.int/Back-issues/Agriculture-monthly-news-update/2002/August-2002 |
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