ASA President In Geneva To Press on Negotiations

The American Soybean Association (ASA) today applauded 57 Senators for sending a strongly worded letter to President George W. Bush making clear that their support for a World Trade Organization (WTO) agreement is dependent on achieving commercially meaningful market access gains and the elimination of trade distorting export practices. As of last Friday, 57 Senators had signed the letter led by Senator Kent Conrad (D-ND).

The letter responds to calls from U.S. trading partners that the United States should offer to make deeper cuts in farm programs, even as these trading partners reject any movement toward real improvements in market access. “We urge you to direct your negotiators to reject any such proposal and instead insist on an ambitious, balanced result that will level the playing field for U.S. agriculture, open foreign markets to U.S. agricultural exports, and increase net income prospects for U.S. farmers and ranchers,” the Senators wrote. The Senators also reminded the Administration that its offer last fall to make deep cuts in trade-distorting domestic farm supports was conditional; if the market access gains did not materialize, the United States would not agree to a disproportionately ambitious reduction in domestic support.

Because ASA shares these concerns, ASA President Bob Metz is in Geneva this week to continue emphasizing soybean growers concerns. Metz, a soybean producer from West Browns Valley, S.D., will provide ongoing input to U.S. trade negotiators who will be in discussions with the European Union, Brazil, India, and others. “ASA has and will continue to keep a close eye on the WTO negotiations so U.S. soybean growers will be treated fairly,” Metz said. “The Senate letter is a clear signal that Members of Congress recognize that an unbalanced agreement is unacceptable.”

ASA, American Farm Bureau Federation, the National Corn Growers Association and other organizations co-signed a letter to President Bush earlier this month opposing further cuts in farm programs since market access gains were not materializing in the WTO negotiations. They asked that last fall’s U.S. offer to reduce trade-distorting farm programs be scaled back unless U.S. demands on improved market access are met.

In addition, ASA First Vice President Rick Ostlie, a North Dakota soybean grower, participated in a June 12 meeting with WTO Director General Pascal Lamy in Washington, D.C. Lamy came to gauge the willingness of Congress and U.S. agriculture to accept deeper cuts in U.S. domestic support programs in order to reach agreement on rules for completing the current Doha Round of trade negotiations. Ostlie told Mr. Lamy that offers to reduce developed country tariffs by an average of 54 percent, and developing country tariffs by only two-thirds of this amount, were too meager. He also stated that, unless these offers are raised to the 66 percent average tariff cut proposed by the United States, the U.S. offer to make cuts in trade-distorting farm programs would have to be reduced. Ostlie added that strict limits would also be needed on designation of Sensitive Products and Special Products by importing countries, which could undermine any access gains from formula tariff cuts.