PHA-Exchange> US dumping of wheat, soybeans, corn, cotton and rice destroys farmers' livelihoods in developing countries

[David Legge]

Ten years after the enactment of the World Trade Organization's
Agreement on Agriculture, U.S. food companies are still exporting crops
at prices below their cost of production (dumping) onto world markets,
concludes a new report by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade
Policy.

In 2003, agriculture exports continued to be sold well below the
cost of production:
*	Wheat was exported at an average price of 28 percent below cost
of production.
*	Soybeans were exported at an average price of 10 percent below
cost of production.
*	Corn was exported at an average price of 10 percent below cost
of production.
*	Cotton was exported at an average price of 47 percent below cost
of production.
*	Rice was exported at an average price of 26 percent below cost
of production.

This is actually an improvement on the previous year!

Farmers in developing countries, trying to produce for domestic markets
or for export, have to price their goods below the cost of the dumped
product.  Is it any wonder that they are looking for second jobs or
leaving the land and becoming urban squatters?

The IATP offers the following first step recommendations: 
1.	The elimination of visible export subsidies, as well as the
establishment of strong disciplines on export credits and program food
aid, as quickly as possible.
2.	A commitment from exporting countries to keep products priced
below the cost of production out of world markets.
3.	The publication of annual full-cost of production estimates for
OECD countries. To fully address agricultural dumping, governments must
develop a more thorough and transparent methodology to measure the
problem and make the relevant data publicly available within six months
of the close of the fiscal year.
4.	Agreement on strong international rules to prohibit restrictive
business practices among the oligopolies that dominate trade in most
agricultural commodities.

Meanwhile the US Trade Representative
<http://www.wtowatch.org/headlines.cfm?refID=69959>  cites 'piracy' as a
global barrier to the export of US goods and services with the finger
pointing in particular at China.  I wonder how the cost (financial and
human) to small farmers in China of US agri dumping weighs up against
the cost to US business of Chinese transgressions against US patents.  

Please on post. 

dl

To visit the IATP website go to 
http://www.wtowatch.org/

To download the report go to:
http://www.tradeobservatory.org/library.cfm?refID=60426

Download the fact sheet go to:
http://www.tradeobservatory.org/library.cfm?refid=48538



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