Washington, DC - U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue today announced that the United States submitted a counter notification in the World Trade Organization (WTO) Committee on Agriculture (COA) on India’s market price support (MPS) for cotton. The United States has been calling for WTO reform to improve the review process of various Committees in the WTO. To continue to improve transparency in the WTO, the United States filed the second U.S. COA notification under the WTO Agreement on Agriculture regarding another country’s measures on November 9, 2018.
Based on U.S. calculations, it appears that India has substantially underreported its market price support for cotton. When calculated according to WTO Agreement on Agriculture methodology, India’s market price support for cotton far exceeded its allowable levels of trade distorting domestic support. The United States expects a robust discussion on how India implements and notifies its policies at the next COA meeting, which is scheduled for November 26-27, 2018.
Background:
On November 9, 2018, the United States submitted a counter notification in the WTO Committee on Agriculture on India’s market price support for cotton – based on publicly available information. The United States has identified several areas of potential concern with India’s notification of its market price support for cotton. These include issues with the quantity of production used in market price support calculations, exclusion from India’s notifications of information on the total value of production (VoP) of cotton (information necessary to assess compliance with WTO commitments), and issues with currency conversions.
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