U.S. wheat industry welcomes development with Brazil
Farm and Ranch April 8, 2010 This is the week Brazil was to have imposed sanctions in the form of much higher tariffs on several U.S. products including wheat. The World Trade Organization said Brazil could do that as a result of a dispute over U.S. government support to its cotton industry, support the WTO said went to far. Last week Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told reporters. Vilsack: “We would prefer to have a negotiated resolution rather than the imposition of sanctions.” It appears that is what is happening. Vilsack and U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk have announced that Brazil and the U.S. have agreed on a path for a negotiated agreement and for now at least, Brazil will impose no new tariffs. The National Association of Wheat Growers and U.S. Wheat Associates issued a statement following this development saying the U.S. wheat industry is very pleased that the U.S. and Brazilian governments have been able to identify a process for negotiating a settlement in the WTO dispute between the two countries. Brazil recent won the right to impose countermeasures against U.S. trade and planned to increase U.S. wheat tariffs to 30 percent from ten percent today. The wheat organizations say the agreement announced this week ensures U.S. producers will remain competitive in one of the world’s largest wheat markets. The U.S. and Brazil are aiming for June to agree on a process for settling once and for all the cotton dispute. I’m Bob Hoff and that’s the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report on Northwest Aginfo Net. ? ? ? ?
