India described the cotton situation as a “bleeding wound on the conscience of the world”, Brazil said the G-20 considers this to be a priority issue in Hong Kong, Australia said a breakthrough in the agriculture negotiations is needed to deal with the cotton problem, and the EU appealed to all WTO members to work for a solution, saying it had opened its markets and reduced its subsidies.
The US appreciated other countries' restraint in not mentioning the US by name and accepted that as the major subsidizer it has a responsibility to deal with the problem, which it will not shirk.
Part of this is happening with new proposed legislation aimed at scrapping the export subsidies that a WTO dispute panel ruled was illegal, the US said.
But the US added that 11 studies show that the impact of the subsidies on prices is considerably less than alleged and therefore the problem also arises because of supply constraints, which the African countries also mentioned.
For this reason, the US is also working on development assistance for the four cotton countries to help increase yields and tackle such issues as marketing.
The US concluded it has had good meetings with the “Cotton Four” and will continue to work for a solution.
The World Trade Organization (WTO) is the only global international organization dealing with the rules of trade between nations.
At its heart are the WTO agreements, negotiated and signed by the bulk of the world's trading nations and ratified in their parliaments.
The goal is to help producers of goods and services, exporters, and importers conduct their business.
-Ltd..jpg?tr=w-120,h-60,c-at_max,cm-pad_resize,bg-ffffff "Thermore (Far East) Ltd.")
.jpg?tr=w-120,h-60,c-at_max,cm-pad_resize,bg-ffffff "Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation Limited (TSllC Ltd)")
.jpg?tr=w-120,h-60,c-at_max,cm-pad_resize,bg-ffffff "Taiwan Textile Federation (TTF)")
