U.S. still willing to deal on agricultural tariff reductions, food aid

U.S. still willing to deal on agricultural tariff reductions, food aid

   U.S. agricultural trade negotiator Allen Johnson said the United States is willing to reduce market access for imported agricultural products if other industrialized and developing countries are willing to do the same.

   “We’re ready to move forward, even possibly going to zero (tariffs) someday, but we need to see other countries help us through substantial reductions in other subsidies,” Johnson said in a statement at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations in Geneva March 25.

   “Our farmers don’t want to be exposed to other countries’ subsidies once we’ve significantly reduced ours,” Johnson added. “And we need to see market access opportunities. We need to be opportunities for our farmers — when their government support is being reduced.”

   The United States still has high tariffs on sugar, dairy and citrus product imports.

   Johnson said the United States is “willing to talk about disciplines” on food aid.

   “We’ve met with some 70 countries and I think I’ve sensed sort of a common objective on food aid,” Johnson said.

   “We all recognize that there’s a food aid shortage in the world today,” he said. “In other words, there’s more request for food aid than there is supply. So our objective in these disciplines is not to have unintended consequences of lowering the amount of food aid available, but really just try to avoid it being used in a way that is an export subsidy.”