WASHINGTON — The Bush Administration is expected to unveil a formal proposal this week for a "substantial, progressive reduction" of farm subsidies worldwide over the next several years as part of the global trade liberalization talks under way in Geneva.
Essentially, it calls for all agriculture-producing countries to convert their quotas and other trade barriers into numerical tariffs--which are easier to compare--and phase out entirely within five years those that distort world trade.
The United States also wants to muster support for revamping existing farm subsidies so that payments to farmers are made independently of the size of the crop that these farmers produce. U.S. officials charge that the links in place encourage overproduction.
And finally, the Administration wants trading countries to eliminate export subsidies, which they say enable inefficient producers to export--and often underprice efficient growers--in global markets. The plan calls for phasing out export subsidies within five years.
The plan, which codifies earlier suggestions that the Administration has made in the agricultural trade field, is unchanged in scope and substance from the revised proposals outlined in early February by U.S. Trade Representative Carla A. Hills.
The measure would also allow countries to re-impose current tariffs or quotas in cases where surprise surges of imports threatened to jeopardize their domestic farming industries. And it would prohibit governments from blocking food exports in case of shortages at home.
The proposals, which U.S. strategists will present formally in Geneva on Wednesday, are designed to speed up the negotiations on writing rules for trade in agriculture, which is not covered by global trade rules.
The United States, which has been the major force behind the talks, has urged all countries to submit formal proposals on agriculture and other issues by year-end, so that a consensus is reached by the time the current talks end, in December, 1990.
U.S. officials have said Washington is willing to reduce or phase out America's farm subsidies and trade barriers if other countries agree to trim theirs as well.
However, Washington's proposals on agricultural trade are expected to receive a cool reception--particularly from European countries, whose governments face strong pressures from thousands of small, relatively inefficient farmers.
