Editors | Rooster News Network
On Friday, the head of the House of Representatives Agriculture Committee said he would no longer co-sponsor the Trade Promotion Authority desperately sought by President Bush after the administration determined more than $10 billion in farm subsidies had distorted trade.
Rep. Larry Combest (R,TX) said he withdrew his name as co-sponsor after USDA's decision on Friday to report to the World Trade Organization $10.4 billion in production-distorting subsidies to U.S. farmers during the 1998/99 marketing year.
"USDA's decision to classify the 1998 payments as trade distorting is equivalent to a unilateral disarmament that cedes ground and gains nothing in return," Combest said in a statement.
For more than two years, Combest has insisted that government payments made after U.S. producers have made their planting decisions in no way distort trade.
In a letter sent to Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman on Friday, Combest said the administration's actions would have a "profound impact on U.S. farmers and on the ability of Congress to help farmers deal with financial stress. The USDA decision creates a precedent for classifying assistance that will apply to payments also made in 1999 and 2000, as well as restrict our ability to make these payments in the future."
Combest's action was a major blow to Bush's efforts to shore up support in Congress this week to obtain broad new trade negotiating authority. Early last week, the Adminstration and many U.S. farm groups launched a united campaign to lobby Congress for quick approval of trade promotion authority.
"This was not an easy action for USDA to take, but it was the right one," said Bob Stallman, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation.
Under the authority, also known as "fast track," Congress relinquishes part of its constitutional authority over trade to allow the executive branch to negotiate trade agreements that cannot be amended. Instead, Congress would only be able to vote to approve or reject the agreements. Such presidential authority expired back in 1994.Editors:
