Extension of the 2008 farm bill raises questions about resolution of the cotton trade dispute with Brazil, according to Dr. Gary Adams, Vice president of economics and policy analysis for the National Cotton Council.
“I think we have to figure out how Brazil reacts to a one year extension (of the farm bill),” Gary said in an interview at the Beltwide Cotton Conferences, noting that the framework agreed to with Brazil in 2010 allowed the United States time to adopt new WTO-compliant cotton policy in a new farm bill. “Is Brazil going to accept a short term extension and see how things play out? We just don’t know the answer to that question.”
Gary says the U-S cotton industry has been facing a slightly different challenge from another country as well recently. “We’ve been dealing with a trade dispute with Peru for the last 6-8 months,” he said. “Countries can initiate their own countervailing duty investigation if they’re concerned that imports into their country are causing harm to their domestic industry. That is what Peru initiated last summer.”
That investigation is proceeding and Adams expects they will know more by the end of March.
Listen to my interview with Gary here: Gary Adams interview
Thanks to Randall Weiseman of Southeast AgNet for providing the photo!
