|
The World Trade Organization has
authorized Brazil to impose trade sanctions on
the United States over its support for cotton, according to Reuters. The ruling
comes as Brazil is trying to turn up the pressure in Washington over the
illegal subsidies. Brazil is not yet ready to
levy the sanctions. The formal move at the WTO''s dispute settlement body (DSB)
brought Brazil one-step closer to retaliating against the United States, the
world''s biggest cotton exporter, in the highly sensitive 9-year-old row. The
reduction of rich countries'' cotton subsidies is seen by developing countries as the litmus test of efforts to
reform the world trading system in the WTO''s Doha
round, with African producers in particular demanding radical change. Brazil''s
request to go ahead and impose sanctions, following an award by WTO
arbitrators, responds to the U.S. failure to comply with earlier WTO rulings
condemning the subsidies, which distort the world market for cotton, hurting
farmers in poor countries. But U.S. WTO diplomat Juan Millan told the dispute
body that Washington did intend to comply with the rulings and so Brazil would
not need to levy the sanctions. He said imposing sanctions could hurt the
economies of both the United States and Brazil. The arbitrators allowed Brazil,
the second biggest cotton exporter, in some circumstances to
"cross-retaliate" against goods other than cotton, or even in
services or intellectual property such as patents on drugs. To exercise that
authorization," he said in a statement.
|
More
