Brazil Asks Trade Group to OK Sanctions on U.S.

Brazil asked the World Trade Organization for the right to impose sanctions of as much as $1.04 billion a year on U.S. goods in a dispute over cotton.

Brazil said the United States had failed to obey a WTO ruling banning some of its cotton policies, and it wanted the right to hit back against U.S. interests.

The United States, the world's No. 1 cotton exporter ahead of Brazil, said it had taken significant steps to reform some of the cotton subsidies declared violations by the WTO.