Agence France Presse | March 25, 2004
The United States on Thursday urged developing countries to open up their markets to agricultural imports in exchange for cuts in subsidies Washington pays to US farmers.
US trade negotiator Allen Johnson said on the sidelines of a meeting at the World Trade Organisation that the US was ready to cut subsidies which developing countries blame for undercutting their own farm exports on world markets.
"In the United States, we have subsidies, but our market access barriers are rather low," Johnson told journalists.
"We are ready to move forward on subsidies, they will be reduced to zero some day, but we need other countries to help us by opening their markets," he added.
The US offer came as the 146 WTO member states tried to revive deadlocked trade liberalisation talks in a meeting of the organisation's agriculture committee this week in Geneva.
Johnson explained that he needed to offer something in return to convince US farmers to support a deal on the contentious farm issue.
"I need to go home and say we are replacing subsidies by market access possibilities," he said.
US President George Bush is facing presidential elections in the United States this year.
The US request was made to industrialised countries as well as the G20 group of developing countries, including Brazil, China and India, which are demanding an end to agricultural subsidies.
Johnson said he had sensed a "willingness to engage" on the part of the group following a "frank" meeting in Geneva.
"They realised that domestic support is linked to market access possibilities," he added.
One of the main aims of the talks at the WTO this week has been trying to get the European Union to accept a deadline for ending export subsidies.
Johnson said: "We are going to have to find a way of setting an end date for export subsidies. That means that the EU needs to be brought along in the process"
The EU wants the talks to include export credits given by Washington to its farmers, which it considers as subsidies.
Johnson said the US was willing to discuss the issue and consider reducing the length of the credits.
He said only 200 million dollars had a "subsidy element" in the credits compared with European export subsidies worth two to five billion dollars.
European Commission farm talks negotiator Mary Minch said the EU did not agree with the figures. According to her, Brussels put the US export credits at three to four billion dollars, compared with only three billion euros in European subsidies.
However, Minch was glad the talks had progressed this week at the WTO where she encountered a "constructive mood".
"There is a consensus that we should try and reach before the summer break a framework for the agriculture negotiations," she said.Agence France Presse:
