WTO backs U.S. in challenge of Chinese trade war tariffs
China wrongly imposed retaliatory tariffs against U.S. products including pork, wine, and fruits and nuts in response to Trump-era tariffs on aluminum and steel imports, said a WTO dispute panel on Wednesday. The trade war levies were an additional 25 percent on pork and an additional 15 percent on fruits and derived products.
India is challenged at WTO over rice and wheat subsidies
Some of the world’s agricultural powerhouses accused India on Thursday of violating world trade rules through exorbitant subsidies for its wheat and rice farmers. India was the ninth-largest farm exporter in the world in 2020, but its success was built on subsidized production, said Australia, Canada, Paraguay, Thailand, Ukraine, and the United States in a WTO filing.
WTO membership is essential, say farm and agribusiness groups
The WTO may need reform, but there is no question the United States should be part of the international body, said five dozen farm and agribusiness groups in a letter to the Trump administration. "As long as exports are important to U.S. agriculture, WTO membership will be essential as well," said the groups.
WTO rules China gave its growers unfair wheat and rice subsidies
The Trump administration, with the weight of a WTO ruling behind it, called on China on Thursday to eliminate trade-distorting wheat and rice subsidies that cost U.S. farmers hundreds of millions of dollars a year in export sales. The WTO panel report may provide impetus to negotiations to resolve the Sino-U.S. trade war.
In trade war volley, U.S. asks WTO to overrule tit-for-tat tariffs
On Monday, the United States asked the World Trade Organization to swat down retaliatory duties levied by China, the European Union, Canada, Mexico, and Turkey on U.S. exports as a violation of WTO rules. The move is the latest in the tit-for-tat trade war that began in April.
Crop insurance is potential target in world trade complaints
More than 100 countries offer crop insurance, a sign of the rising popularity of the instrument in providing support for producers since the formation of the World Trade Organization, says an IFPRI report. Premium volumes grew by roughly 16 percent a year, to well above $30 billion, in the decade ending in 2013. The United States accounts for one-third of the premium volume worldwide, with China at about 40 percent of the U.S. level. Japan, Canada and the EU also run large programs.
US tries to avert Brazil retaliation over cotton subsidies
The United States is "negotiating" with Brazil and trying to avert the potential imposition of $830 mln in retaliatory tariffs in the decade-old cotton dispute, AgSec Vilsack told the Senate Agriculture Committee. Brazil won a World Trade Organization case against U.S. subsidies several years ago and repeatedly held off retaliation while working with the United States to settle the issue.