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The president of Texas' largest farm organization said that a framework developed by negotiators of the World Trade Organization to reduce tariffs and trade distorting subsidies is a good start. "However," said Texas Farm Bureau President Kenneth Dier-schke, "none of the U.S. goals for the talks have yet been accomplished."
Dierschke said that previous negotiations have not gone well for agriculture: "So far, the Bush administration has been appropriately tough on agricultural trade. We are, however, concerned that a significant reduction in support programs has been put on the table, and yet there has been no mention of specific reductions in trade barriers from other WTO members."
The framework, Dierschke said, is a beginning, but warned that both developed and developing nations must make concessions.
"U.S. tariffs are already much lower than the world average. Goods entering this country are subject to a tariff of 14 percent, on average, while U.S. goods face tariffs averaging more than 60 percent in foreign ports," Dierschke said.
Dierschke and other farm leaders have said that U.S. farmers cannot give up the safety net of the federal farm program without substantial concessions from countries that have imposed trade barriers to keep U.S. goods out.
Dierschke also said that the WTO set out to negotiate a level playing field for all of agriculture, yet the U.S. cotton program has been targeted repeatedly. "It is not fair or productive to single out cotton or any other commodity," he said.
"The most important thing is that the WTO parties are still talking and we remain committed to the ideal of free and fair international trade," the farm leader said. "But any reductions in support for U.S. farmers must be accompanied by significant reductions in trade distorting tariffs and other trade barriers."
