Brazil and the World Trade Organization are dealing with a situation that bears
little resemblance to real world conditions in the cotton market, Collin
Peterson, chairman of the House Ag Committee, said during a farm bill field
hearing Monday in Lubbock.
Peterson, commenting on the negotiations currently underway with Brazil to
prevent retaliatory measures allowed by the WTO ruling against the U.S. Cotton
program, said the issue is based on situations that existed under previous farm
bills. “It’s about past history,” he said. “Brazil is suing you over past
history.”
He also said future trade negotiations that don’t include ag will not fly.
“We will not live with it if agriculture is not (treated fairly). Without
agriculture they will not get a deal.”
He quipped that the only way U.S. agriculture could get a fair deal from
the WTO was “to figure out a way to become a developing nation.”
He said the next farm bill likely would include changes for cotton because
of the WTO/Brazil case. “We’ll have to do something but I’m not certain what.
We’re not sure what Brazil wants, but we will have to change. My interest is to
protect the safety net for production agriculture so that it works for the
producer.”
Brad Heffington, a cotton producer from Lamb County, Texas, said the
WTO/Brazil cotton case complicates discussions about the cotton program. “It’s a
complex program and the case was filed under two previous farm bills. Cotton
acreage has decreased by about half since the case was first filed. We don’t
know what they want.
“Now, we have a foreign country dictating to our Congress what our laws
should be. I don’t believe cotton was ever the main issue, but other goods. I’m
at a loss as to what we should do.” Representative Mike Rogers, R-Alabama, asked
Doyle Schniers, a cotton grower from San Angelo, Texas, what effect trade
agreements and the loss of the domestic textile industry have had on cotton
markets.
“Our primary markets now are Asian,” Schniers said. “We are producing high
quality cotton in Texas and that’s what Asian markets want.”
Rogers said trade agreements are as important to cotton as they are for
rice and wheat. “It’s important that we keep the markets we have now.”
L.G. Raun, a rice producer from El Campo, Texas, testified that rice has
not been well represented in past trade agreements. “Rice was completely
excluded from the free trade agreement with South Korea, foreclosing any new
markets for U.S. rice producers in that country,” he said.
Raun said the Columbia Free Trade agreement would “provide significant new
market access for the Mid-South rice industry. But it is stalled.”
He said the Doha Round of negotiations of the WTO concerns producers. “We
have seen nothing in the Doha Round negotiations (that would change U.S.
producers’ disadvantage with foreign subsidies and tariffs). In fact, in many
ways Doha would make matters worse.”
He said trade agreements that phase in market access over many years but
reduce the farm safety net immediately, are not fair trade and make no economic
sense. “They don’t cash flow at the bank.”
Panelists also encouraged the committee to support a trade agreement with
Cuba. Panelist David Cleavinger, a wheat, corn, cotton and grain sorghum
producer from Wildorado, Texas, said a Cuban trade deal would mean an $18
million annual economic benefit to Texas. Raun said Cuba was once “the number
one export market for U.S. rice. We believe it is potentially a 400,000 to
600,000-ton market if normal commercial relations are established. We wish to
commend Chairman Peterson and Congressman (Jerry) Moran (Kansas) for your
leadership in introducing legislation to open agricultural trade as well as
remove travel restrictions to Cuba.”
Other panelists also expressed support for efforts to increase agricultural
trade. “We support international trade policies that aggressively pursue
expanded market access for U.S. beef, enforce trade agreements that are based on
internationally recognized standards and guidelines and hold our trading
partners accountable for international trade agreements,” said Joe Parker, Texas
and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association.
Peterson said the Obama Administration is “moving forward,” with efforts to
open livestock markets in Japan, Korea and Russia. “The Administration has been
as proactive as possible,” on the issue, he said.
Cleavinger said swift approval of the Columbia Free Trade Agreement is
critical for wheat producers. “The United States once boasted maintaining
roughly 85 percent of the Columbian market,” he said. “Estimates now show that
our share could fall as low as 30 percent if Canada, one of our leading
competitors, approves a free trade agreement before the United States. That is
unacceptable.”
Dan Smith, speaking for the national Sorghum Producers, said trade “is
vital to our marketplace since 38 percent of U.S. grain sorghum is exported to
Mexico, Japan, the European Union and other markets.”
Other speakers urged the committee to maintain proven international
marketing programs. “It is important for the United States to increase our share
of markets,” said Dee Vaughan, a corn grower from Dumas, Texas. “Market Access
Program and Foreign Market Development funds help producer groups and others
build and maintain markets. It is important that adequate funding be available
through the farm bill.”
He said the Corn Producers Association of Texas supports bi-lateral trade
agreements pending for Panama, South Korea, and Columbia, but “has strong
reservations about the U.S. offer to the WTO within the Doha Round of
negotiations.”
He said the language in the proposal is so ambiguous that it will make it
difficult to create a commodity program that would be unchallenged by foreign
competitors.
Panelists conceded that WTO rulings would affect the 2012 farm bill debate.
“We encourage the committee to give careful consideration to trade matters that
might result in increased exports of farm commodities and specifically support
the Market Access Program and the Foreign Market Development Fund,” said Billy
Bob Brown, testifying for the Texas Farm Bureau.
southwestfarmpress.com
Source: newsroom - meattradenewsdaily.co.uk
Back to News Headlines