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WTO Complaint Against U.S. Corn Grows
DAVOS, Switzerland -- The European Union, Australia, Argentina and Brazil have joined Canada in a complaint against the United States over what they claim are illegal government handouts to American corn growers, trade officials said Monday. The request for consultations, filed by the four trading powers and others at the Geneva-based World Trade Organization, threatens a major commercial dispute at a time when global free trade talks remain stalled over agricultural tariffs and subsidies and the U.S. begins debating a new multibillion-dollar farm bill. Under WTO rules, a three-month consultation period is required before a country can ask the trade body to launch a formal investigation. AWTO case can result in punitive sanctions being authorized, but panels take many months, and sometimes years, to reach a decision.
Canada lodged its complaint on Jan. 8, claiming that some $9 billion paid out by the U.S. annually in export credit guarantees and other subsidies unfairly and illegally deflated international corn prices.
"This is not just about corn," said Clodoaldo Hugueney, Brazilian ambassador to the WTO. "Brazil is the world's largest ethanol exporter, so this is an important issue for us."
Hugueney said any country's large subsidy program concerns Brazil as a major agriculture exporter. (…)
The WTO, in a case brought by Brazil, already has ruled that some cotton subsidies are illegal and the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush has been coming under pressure to reform a number of its farm support programs.
"Many of the issues in Canada's complaint we have also complained about concerning U.S. cotton programs," said Hugueney in a telephone interview from Geneva.
Canada's complaint over U.S. corn support also challenged whether the billions of dollars in overall farm subsidies paid out by the U.S. government comply with international commerce rules.
It argued that U.S. subsidy levels for a number of years on farm products including wheat, sugar and soybeans were illegal and urged Washington to address its concerns when drafting the farm bill that will set out American agricultural support programs for the next five years.
The U.S. says it has offered cuts as part of the WTO's global free trade talks, but others have called the pledges largely artificial, addressing only permitted levels of government subsidies and failing to cut what Washington actually gives to its farmers.
(By Bradley S. Klapper, The Associated Press, Monday, January 22, 2007, The Washington Post)
The expression “set out” (10 §) means: