{ "id": "RS21712", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "number": "RS21712", "active": false, "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "versions": [ { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 104569, "date": "2004-01-16", "retrieved": "2016-04-08T14:29:40.197533", "title": "The African Cotton Initiative and WTO Agriculture Negotiations", "summary": "In World Trade Organization (WTO) Negotiations on agriculture, a group of African countries\nhave\nproposed that all subsidies for cotton be eliminated by the end of four years. The proposal also\nadvocates compensating African cotton producing countries for revenues estimated to be lost due\nto cotton subsidies. The United States, which provides substantial production-related subsidies to\ncotton producers, agrees that cotton subsidies distort trade, but maintains that the issue should be\nnegotiated in a comprehensive manner. Disagreement over the African cotton initiative has blocked\nprogress on an agreement on agriculture in the current round of multilateral trade negotiations known\nas the Doha Development Agenda (DDA). How to tackle the question of cotton subsidies -- either\nas a stand-alone initiative or as part of a broader agreement to reduce trade-distorting farm subsidies\n-- will be on the agenda as DDA negotiations continue in 2004. If the initiative were agreed to as\nproposed, U.S. cotton producers would no longer be receiving 2002 farm bill marketing loan, loan\ndeficiency, or counter-cyclical payments after four years. Under a U.S. alternative proposal for\nreduction in trade distorting subsidies, cotton producers could still receive payments under those\nprograms but in reduced amounts. This report will be updated.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/RS21712", "sha1": "2a1f593f7890098f365b3f1f5b64450293709df8", "filename": "files/20040116_RS21712_2a1f593f7890098f365b3f1f5b64450293709df8.html", "images": null }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/RS21712", "sha1": "5c80f515937767956e0f4320fdbcf6c67f945c22", "filename": "files/20040116_RS21712_5c80f515937767956e0f4320fdbcf6c67f945c22.pdf", "images": null } ], "topics": [] } ], "topics": [] }