Cotton belt: trouble for farm subsidies.

• Author: Sullum, Jacob
• Position: Citings - Brief Article

KEN COOK, PRESIDENT of the Environmental Working Group, is happy. Bryan Edwardson, director of public policy at the agricultural giant Cargill, is worried. But both agree that a World Trade Organization (WTO) ruling against government aid to cotton farmers could be the beginning of the end for a wide range of agricultural subsidies.

Farmers in developing countries have long blamed U.S. cotton subsidies for encouraging overproduction and driving down world prices. In a report that at press time was expected to be finalized in June, a panel of three trade experts conclude that the subsidies violate WTO rules. The decision, which responds to a complaint filed by Brazil, the European Community, and a dozen other countries, rejects the U.S. claim that its subsidies they're not directly tied to production.

"This could mean problems for all domestic subsidy programs," Cook told The New York Times, "for corn, wheat, rice, everything that receives big...