US, Others Complain of Excessive Ag Subsidies During WTO Committee Meeting

A committee meeting at the World Trade Organization on agriculture focused on heavy subsidies to farmers in both the developed and developing world, with particular criticism of India by the U.S. and Australia, according to a summary of the meeting held Nov. 27 in Geneva. The U.S. repeated its complaint about cotton (see 1811130032), and was backed by Brazil, the European Union and Australia. India said the U.S. was not justified in linking domestic support to exports of cotton. New Zealand sided with India, saying that rich countries also distort agriculture economics through subsidies. The U.S. also questioned India on an increased tariff on milk whey powder, from 20 percent to 40 percent. India said the higher tariff is still under its bound tariff rate. The EU complained India repeatedly raises tariffs to restrict trade, and that the gap between the applied tariff and the WTO-bound rate is a problem. The U.S. wanted to question Ghana about import requirements on poultry, but no representative was in the meeting from that country.