U.S. officials reaffirm commitment to WTO agricultural trade goals

U.S. officials reaffirm commitment to WTO agricultural trade goals    Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Linnet Deily told World Trade Organization officials that the United States remains committed to global free trade of agricultural goods.
   Progress on the WTO’s Doha Development Agenda (DDA) broke down in 2003 largely over the failure to reach consensus on eliminating agricultural tariffs and domestic subsidies worldwide.
   “We have been clear from the outset of the DDA that agricultural reform is to us the linchpin of the negotiations,” Deily said in a statement in Geneva on Jan. 16.
   The average U.S. tariff for agricultural imports is 12 percent, compared to the world average of 62 percent. Some U.S. agricultural sectors, such as sugar and dairy products, do receive tariff protection in excess of the U.S. average. In these sectors, the U.S. government provides market access through tariff rate quotas (TRQs).
   “U.S. administration of agricultural TRQs is transparent, fair, and seeks to provide the conditions to permit foreign suppliers maximum access to U.S. TRQs,” Deily said. “The United States has complied with all of its Uruguay Round commitments regarding TRQs and agricultural market access, and stands ready to provide additional market access as all WTO members move to open their markets upon conclusion of the DDA negotiations,” she added.
   Deily also defended the 2002 Farm Security and Rural Investment Act, or Farm Bill, which increases federal transfers to U.S. farmers. Some WTO members say this contrasts with the U.S. proposals for substantial reductions in production-distorting domestic support in the Doha Development Agenda Round.
   “[T]he 2002 Farm Act does not increase support; the USDA [U.S. Department of Agriculture] net outlays show trade-distorting domestic support trending downward; and our farm programs are still oriented toward fewer trade-distorting forms of support,” she said.