World Trade Organization

Corporate Tax Legislation Remains Stalled in the Senate

After months of ferocious lobbying from almost every corner of business, Senate leaders struggled on Wednesday to reach agreement on a bill that would overhaul corporate taxes and create more than $170 billion worth of tax breaks for Rust Belt manufacturers, movie studios, drug companies, computer companies, shipbuilders and even Indian tribes.

Chinese premier calls on EU not to link human rights progress to better trade ties

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao told top European Union officials Thursday they are making an economic mistake to link progress in human rights to lifting a 15-year arms embargo and the official recognition of China as a market economy.

Boll evil? U.S. detractors waging cotton tug of war

The May 2, 2004 Sunday F1BZ EDITION For Brazil -- increasingly a thorn in the side of Washington's trade agenda -- a ruling against American cotton subsidies by the World Trade Organization marks a major victory on the battlefield of commerce.

WTO decision rattles farm state lawmakers

A World Trade Organization decision that U.S. cotton subsidies have hurt producers in other countries and violate WTO rules has made lawmakers from major farm states including Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., and farm lobbyists worried that it could require changes in the 2002 farm bill and in subsidies on other crops such as corn and wheat.

WTO Move Puts Cloud Over Farm Subsidies

The International Herald Tribune | By Elizabeth Becker | April 28, 2004 The White House said Tuesday that it would work with Congress and the U.S. agriculture sector to defend America's agricultural interests after the World Trade Organization ruled that the government's multibillion-dollar subsidies to the U.S. cotton industry violate global trade rules.

House Panel to Examine WTO Challenge

Associated Press Online |By IRA DREYFUSS | April 28, 2004 Lawmakers worry a preliminary World Trade Organization decision that found U.S. cotton subsidies are unfair could have a far-reaching impact that extends beyond the cotton fields.

Farmers To Gain In Trade Blow To US

The Age (Melbourne) | By Josh Gordon | April 28, 2004 Canberra -- Australia and developing nations stand to gain lucrative access to the heavily protected world market for cotton after the United States appeared to lose a key trade battle on cotton subsidies.

US Admits 'Serious Concerns' Over Interim WTO Ruling On Cotton Subsidies

AFX.COM | April 28, 2004 HEADLINE: The US has "serious concerns" with an interim WTO ruling in a landmark battle with Brazil over US cotton subsidies and will lodge an appeal if it is not changed, a spokeswoman said Tuesday.

Trade System May Need Another Renovation

Sydney Morning Herald | By John Garnaut | April 24, 2004 Bob Zoellick, US President George Bush's front man for trade, talks a lot about "competitive liberalisation". Australian Trade Minister Mark Vaile, who talks a lot about what Zoellick talks about, has adopted the principle as his own.