USA loses WTO Brazil cotton appeal
2/6/08
The United States has lost its final appeal in a billion-dollar trade dispute with Brazil over subsidies to US cotton growers. A World Trade Organisation (WTO) appeal panel upheld on Monday a ruling from December that found that the US had breached trade rules over its subsidies to cotton farmers. The ruling means that Brazil could now seek one billon dollars in sanctions until the US stops payments to its farmers. Developing nations, especially in Africa, say the US subsidies lower global prices, squeezing their own poor farmers out of the market. The US government is estimated to have paid its cotton farmers $2bn to $4bn in subsidies in most recent years.
See: http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/210B5C90-69BE-4AAC-B91E-636BE7AC4B3D.htm
Tags: Agriculture, Global, Trade, USA, WTO