Cotton Newsline: February 23, 2007

U.S.Cotton Targeted Again by the WTO

The World Trade Organization has scheduled a “high profile session” on cotton in Geneva on March 15 and 16 -- within two weeks of oral arguments in the Brazil-United States Cotton Compliance dispute.  Jay Hardwick, chairman of the American Cotton Producers says the U.S. cotton industry is concerned that these actions at this time are trying to produce an even more inequitable Doha Round Agreement for U.S. cotton – one that unfairly targets U.S. cotton producers and the U.S. cotton program.

Woody Anderson, a Texas cotton producer, believes the discussions held within the WTO consistently ignore the dramatic change in world cotton and textile markets. Yet even more liberalization is demanded from the United States while extending more and more exemptions for most of the rest of the world.

The US has called for consultations with China under the auspices of the WTO on possible illegal subsidies on exports of Chinese manufactured products.  According to Woods Eastland, CEO of Staplcotn, the Chinese currency valuation problem still remains and must also be addressed. But he says cotton prices cannot rebound to the levels desired by West African producers with market conditions as they exist today.

Cotton Newsline RealAudio®
Choose your speed:
28K   56K

Playing Audio and Video Files

Get the FREE RealPlayerTo play these files, you need the RealPlayer®, which is available for FREE. If you do not already have the RealPlayer, download and install it now.

Once you have the RealPlayer installed, click one of the two speeds listed to start playing the file. If your connection is less than 56K (28.8 or 33.6), you should choose the 28K file. If your connection is 56K or higher, choose the 56K file.