India Asks for Inclusion in U.S. and African Cotton Negotiations
March 30, 2009 The Economic Times reports that India has said it should be included in the exclusive meetings between the U.S. and West African cotton-producing countries on subsidy cuts as part of the on-going World Trade Organization Doha round.
India is the second largest cotton-producing country in the world, and as such, should be made part of all discussions on reduction what it calls “high U.S. subsidies on cotton.”
India claims U.S. subsidies have “severely hurt cotton producers in African countries” because subsidies allow the U.S. to sell cotton at a lower price on the world market. “African growers have been wiped out,” according to the report.
The WTO ruled in 2004 that the subsidies given by the U.S. to its cotton farmers were unfair and it put cotton farmers in less developed countries at a disadvantage. Following the ruling, West African countries had proposed in 2006 that U.S. cotton subsidies should be reduced by 82.2% as part of the Doha round. The U.S. has not responded to the proposal.
Unless the issue of cotton is resolved, the report said, it will not be possible to end the Doha round which started in November of 2001.
Another major issue that must be settled in the round is the level of protection which should be given to developing country farmers to protect them against import surge
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