"Proposal Would Have Been a ‘Lose-Lose’ Deal for U.S. Soybean Farmers"

The American Soybean Association (ASA) supports U.S. negotiators in Geneva for rejecting proposals in the Doha trade negotiations that did not provide sufficient market access for U.S. producers.

The latest proposal would have sharply reduced U.S. domestic support programs, while allowing developing countries to increase tariffs on key agricultural products above their current levels.

"ASA is proud of our negotiating team, led by U.S. Trade Representative Ambassador Susan Schwab, in walking away from a bad deal in Geneva," said ASA President John Hoffman, a soybean producer from Waterloo, Iowa. "We had consistently stated that U.S. soybean producers would take a significant reduction in domestic farm programs if we got an equally significant increase in market access, particularly to developing countries.

"The Special Safeguard Mechanism (SSM) proposal insisted on by India and other countries could have created a huge loophole for developing countries to shield their domestic markets, even when price and import conditions are relatively normal," Hoffman said. "Added to the nearly 70 percent cut in U.S. trade-distorting support programs the Administration was offering, this proposal would have been a ‘lose-lose’ deal for U.S. soybean farmers."

Hoffman’s comments followed the announcement that talks on the World Trade Organization (WTO) agreement in the so-called "mini-Ministerial" meeting in Geneva had collapsed this week after developing countries, led by India, insisted that they not only be allowed to use a SSM to unduly restrict imports, but also be allowed to raise tariffs by up to 25 percent above current levels. U.S. negotiators said that raising tariff rates higher than currently permitted under the Uruguay Round agreement would set efforts to liberalize world trade back by 30 years.

"Allowing major U.S. customers like India and China to not only avoid tariff reductions on soybean and livestock products, but to actually increase them when imports increase or prices fall, would have undercut all efforts to liberalize trade in these negotiations," Hoffman said.

Hoffman added that "the negotiating text on the table also did not discipline the Differential Export Taxes (DETs) that Argentina and other countries use to unfairly subsidize exports of soybean and other oilseed products. ASA has insisted that DETs be eliminated as part of any acceptable agreement."

Hoffman concluded, "ASA continues to support the WTO framework as the only effective means for expanding world trade, including access to foreign markets for U.S. soybean and livestock product exports. We will continue to work with the current Administration and its successor to ensure that any new WTO agreement is fair and beneficial to American soybean farmers."