Trade policy

USW offers updates, analyses and perspectives on trade policy issues that potentially affect export markets and sales.

Trade Negotiations Update

WTO and the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) WTO MINISTERIAL ON THE ROCKS A WTO ministerial meeting the week of May 19 looks unlikely. Negotiators from a number of countries are in Geneva this week working to resolve outstanding issues -- tariff disciplines for tropical products (TP) and preference erosion (PE) in particular. Chief Agricultural negotiator Crawford Falconer has called a meeting for Wednesday to review progress. If members do have progress to report, Falconer will continue his meetings through the end of the week. Otherwise, he will probably curtail the meetings and send negotiators back to their missions to do further work. Negotiations on TP and PE are reportedly not making much progress. The TP group, led by Costa Rica, is pressing the EU for tariff reductions, especially on bananas, and the PE group, led by Jamaica and Mauritius, is pressing the EU to preserve existing preferences. In addition, there are still problems with the sensitive products methodology, tariff escalation and tariff simplification. The gap between positions on special products and the special safeguard mechanism has not narrowed. Most WTO officials feel that Falconer will have two options by the end of this week -- 1) produce a paper that is comprehensible to ministers but that "steps on a lot of toes"; or 2) produce a paper that is incomprehensible to ministers but accurately reflects the state of the negotiations. Therefore, it is likley that Falconer will have no choice but to delay the paper and allow more time for further negotiations. Beyond Doha USW believes a comprehensive and ambitious WTO agreement is the best opportunity to acheive growth through global free and fair trade. However, it is important not to lose sight of other important free trade initiatives that also contribute to free and fair trade. We support the pursuit of bilateral agreements in order to gain key market access and expand the export of U.S. wheat. The U.S. FTA agenda:

Trade Policy Statements

WTO: US Wheat Industry Position on Greater Market Access (02/22/2008) Joint Letter to Sec. of Agriculture Supporting Market Solutions to Wheat Price Concerns (02/22/2008) Colombia Trade Agreement is Good for U.S. Wheat Producers (02/21/2008) Coalition for Ag Exports Letter to Congress Supporting Market Development Funding (02/21/2008) A Frantic Pace Takes Hold in Geneva (12/19/2007) Passage of U.S.-Peru Free Trade Agreement Good News for U.S. Wheat Producers (12/04/2007) U.S. Wheat Industry Submission to 2008 National Trade Estimate Report (11/28/2007) South American Trade Paper (09/11/2007) Industry Urges Vote on Latin American FTAs (07/16/2007) USW Disappointed in TPA Loss (07/03/2007) U.S. Wheat Industry Supports Korean Free Trade Agreement (06/25/2007) Wheat Industry Agrees: No Change in Domestic Support Without Concessions (06/01/2007)

Trade Policy Archive