American farmers appear willing to deal with WTO’s cotton ruling
It wasn’t what they wanted to hear, but American farm representatives appear willing to deal with a World Trade Organization ruling regarding reforms of export subsidy programs for U.S. cotton.
Bob Stallman, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation, said in a statement Thursday that “the United States should move forward and comply with the ruling, one way or another.”
The case began with a claim from Brazil that U.S. domestic support for cotton causes “serious prejudice” to Brazilian interests by depressing or suppressing world cotton prices and unfairly expanding or maintaining U.S. world market share.
The U.S. Trade Representative represented the U.S. cotton industry’s interests before the WTO. “We’re interested in results, not litigation,” said Richard Mills, a USTR spokesman.
“Getting the results that our farmers want is best achieved through ambitious global agriculture reform, through ongoing multilateral trade negotiations which address market access, export competition and domestic support, including for cotton,” Mills added.
“Although we have not yet had time to fully analyze this lengthy ruling we believe it is in the best interest of our farmer and rancher members to work through the WTO for opening borders and achieving additional agricultural exports,” Stallman said. “In spite of this ruling, the WTO is our best avenue for fair trade throughout the world.”