U.S. Offers Plan on Agriculture for Hong Kong Trade Talks

Two-stage proposal aimed at breaking deadlock in multilateral negotiations

U.S Trade Representative (USTR) Rob Portman October 10 outlined a plan on agriculture subsidies designed to end a stalemate on multilateral trade negotiations.

"Our ambitious initiative demonstrates a seriousness of purpose," Portman said in statement released in Zurich, Switzerland. "The United States is committed to breaking the deadlock in multilateral talks on agriculture, and unleashing the full potential of the Doha Round."

The lengthy trade negotiations stalled almost from their 2001 launch at Doha, Qatar, over agriculture. Trade ministers at the July 2004 World Trade Organization (WTO) General Council meeting appeared to break the stalemate by agreeing on a framework for conducting the agriculture negotiations, but since then talks essentially have stalled again.

In spite of the apparent stalemate, Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Peter Allgeier told a WTO Trade Negotiations Committee in Geneva in July that the United States remained committed to finding compromises that would move the Doha Development Agenda toward an agreement on both industrial trade and agricultural trade.

In September, Portman and European Union Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson met in Washington in an attempt to find common ground on the sensitive agricultural issues that have stalled the Doha round almost since it was launched in 2001.

Trade ministers are scheduled to meet December 13-18 in Hong Kong to continue work.

"The U.S. proposal is offered in earnest," Portman said. "We are ready to make meaningful changes to American farm programs provided our trading partners deliver tangible market access for U.S. agricultural exports and our offer is also met by substantial reductions in trade-distorting measures, with deeper cuts by the biggest trade subsidizers."

The U.S proposal is a two-stage plan. The first stage would involve substantial reductions of trade-distorting agricultural support measures and tariffs, along with the elimination of export subsidies, to be phased in over a five-year period. In stage two, which would take effect five years after implementation of stage one, an additional five-year phase-in period would deliver the elimination of remaining trade-distorting policies in agriculture.

"Our time is short," Portman said in the Zurich statement. "I urge all of us to redouble our efforts and maximize the nine weeks left before the WTO Ministerial in Hong Kong."

A policy brief summarizing the proposal is available on the USTR Web site.

The USTR press release announcing the proposal and the text of the proposal are available on the Department of State website.

Source: U.S. Department of State

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