Menu

With the clock ticking, U.S. trade officials are pushing hard for the European Union to make further concession on farm tariffs so the upcoming World Trade Organization talks don't fall apart.

In mid-December, WTO members are scheduled to meet in Hong Kong to continue the so-called Doha round of negotiations. It's there that they hope to agree on a detailed trade draft plan aimed at reducing trade barriers, eliminating trade-distorting agriculture supports and opening new markets for trade. OFBF Vice President of Agricultural Ecology Constance Jackson, First Vice President Sparky Weilnau and Trustee Brent Porteus plan to attend the conference. While not directly involved in the talks, they will provide input by working with negotiators from U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman's office.

"Our main goal will be to hammer home the point that the United States can not support a reduction in its domestic support unless we see comparable progress in market access," Jackson said.

Last month, Portman revived trade talks with a proposed 53 percent cut in the amount of money the United States can spend on farm subsidies. Under WTO rules, the United States can spend up to $49 billion, although normal U.S. spending is substantially lower than this level.

Adam Sharp, OFBF's director of national affairs, called the U.S. proposal bold, saying it would open up worldwide agricultural trade and improve export subsidies, trade-distorting domestic supports and market access.

"The U.S. will reduce and eliminate all trade distorting measures, but the rest of the world must do the same," U.S. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns said Oct. 20 in Switzerland. "Yet the European Union really has not put any cards on the table. They really have not identified an approach that gets us to Hong Kong."

As of press time, the European Union had agreed to make some tariff-free and domestic support reductions. Many nations believe the European Union's proposal doesn't go far enough in cuts or market access, Sharp said. He said the United States is concerned about the European Union's demand for geographic food indicators. The European Union wants to ban the use of certain words to describe food and wine not from specific geographic regions, including feta and gorgonzola for cheese and port and sherry for wine. These terms are considered generic in the United States and many other countries.

But U.S. geographic indicators such as "Florida" for oranges and "Idaho" for potatoes would not have worldwide protection under the proposal.

"It's troubling that the United States would not have the same protection as the Europeans," Sharp said.

Bob Stallman, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation, said new market access for U.S. farm products is critical.

"It must be emphasized that real trade reform must include substantial, ambitious and quantifiable expansion in access to markets," he said. "We will do our share on domestic support but developed and developing countries must do their part in reforming and expanding market access opportunities."

Portman called the Doha talks a "once-in-a-generation opportunity."

"Our offer on agriculture reflects our commitment to Doha," he said Oct. 20. "We believe Doha is so important that it is worth taking risks. And yet the U.S. cannot, and will not, act alone."