Collin Peterson: “there are many reasons to question whether or not the United States should remain in the WTO. Among them: the current…”

“there are many reasons to question whether or not the United States should remain in the WTO. Among them: the current trade deficit of $618 billion; the disappointing enforcement efforts of the Administration on past trade agreements; and the lack of consensus in the WTO on how to move forward with the Doha Round. But at this point, it is too early to give up hope. The WTO is essentially our only chance to address the major distortions in world agricultural markets. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development is a group of 30 countries including the United States, most European countries, Japan, Mexico, Australia, and New Zealand. It is widely regarded as the most reliable source of objective information comparing subsidy levels of various developed countries. Perhaps the most useful number the OECD calculates is one that compares the amount of each dollar that a farmer receives due to government policies, such as tariffs or farm support programs, versus the amount the farmer receives from the marketplace. They call this number the Producer Support Estimate. In its 2004 report on Agriculture, the OECD notes that the Producer Support Estimate for the United States decreased in recent years, and that this is a part of a long term trend in U.S. agricultural policy. As the OECD points out, support in the U.S. to producers decreased from 25% in 1986-88 to 18% in 2003, and has remained below the OECD average. Europe has increased support to 37% in 2003.…”