WTO Opens Probe of US Farm Subsidies

[one...two...tree 2,762]

By BRADLEY S. KLAPPER Associated Press Writer

GENEVA -- The World Trade Organization has opened an investigation into whether the United States is violating international commerce rules that limit subsidies to American farmers, officials said Monday, three days after the U.S. Senate approved a new $286 billion farm bill.

The WTO said it set up a panel to rule in the dispute after Brazil and Canada demanded the investigation.

Frustrated by U.S. resistance to cutting back on subsidies, the two countries have asked the WTO to condemn Washington for exceeding permitted levels of trade-distorting handouts to American producers of crops such as corn, cotton, rice, soybean and wheat.

The panel created Monday is expected to issue a first ruling sometime in 2008. The dispute system often takes years before reaching a final decision, but can force countries to change their legislation or face billions of dollars (euros) in retaliatory sanctions.

The dispute over farm subsidies could become a landmark dispute for the WTO because Brazil's complaint includes payments for ethanol production.

The trade body has largely steered clear of energy issues in its 12-year history, but will now have to rule on the legality of U.S. tax exemptions on diesel fuel and gasoline production — a sensitive issue as U.S. presidential candidates gear up for the January start of primary contests in Iowa, the American state that produces the most ethanol.

Critics of the subsidies say they drive down prices, making it impossible for small farms to compete in international markets and more difficult for poorer countries to develop their economies by selling agricultural produce abroad. Richer WTO members such as Australia, Canada and the 27-nation European Union also have demanded subsidy limits amid pressure from domestic producers fearful of being crowded out of their own markets.

http://www.salon.com/wires/ap/business/200...dies/index.html

[Heracles 417]

So are you for or against subsidies?

Wow. Way to go Democrat controlled senate.. $286 billion worth of subsidies while these farms continue to employ illegal immigrants.

Apparently the war in Iraq is the waste.

Edited December 18, 2007 by Boo-Yah!

[one...two...tree 2,762]

So are you for or against subsidies?

Wow. Way to go Democrat controlled senate.. $286 billion worth of subsidies while these farms continue to employ illegal immigrants.

Apparently the war in Iraq is the waste.

Farm subsidies were suppose to help the small farms survive, but they've mutated into an entitlement that larger, corporate farms have taken advantage of, giving them the market edge. Redesign them to help those small farms that really need them or do away with all subsidies.

[Heracles 417]

So are you for or against subsidies?

Wow. Way to go Democrat controlled senate.. $286 billion worth of subsidies while these farms continue to employ illegal immigrants.

Apparently the war in Iraq is the waste.

Farm subsidies were suppose to help the small farms survive, but they've mutated into an entitlement that larger, corporate farms have taken advantage of, giving them the market edge. Redesign them to help those small farms that really need them or do away with all subsidies.

Subsidies only financially harm Americans as a whole. It takes away tax payer money that could be used elsewhere to pay people in an unsustainable industry. There are other measures the government can use to help farmers rather than just handing over money to them..

Small farms are no longer viable in the 21st century. Unless they target new niche markets, such as going organic..

[Kevin and 10]

Subsidies=Welfare