On July 24, 2006, the WTO's Director General announced the
indefinite suspension of further negotiations in the Doha
Development Agenda or Doha Round of multilateral trade
negotiations. The principal cause of the suspension was that a core
group of WTO member countries - the United States, the European
Union (EU), Brazil, India, Australia, and Japan - known as the G-6
had reached an impasse over specific methods to achieve the broad
aims of the round for agricultural trade: substantial reductions in
trade-distorting domestic subsidies, elimination of export
subsidies, and substantially increased market access for
agricultural products. The WTO is unique among the various fora of
international trade negotiations in that it brings together its
entire 149-country membership to negotiate a common set of rules to
govern international trade in agricultural products, industrial
goods, and services. Agreement across such a large assemblage of
participating nations and range of issues contributes significantly
to consistency and harmonization of trade rules across countries.
Regarding agriculture, because policy reform is addressed across
three broadly inclusive fronts - export competition, domestic
support, and market access - WTO negotiations provide a framework
for give and take to help foster mutual agreement. As a result, the
Doha Round represents an unusual opportunity for addressing most
policy-induced distortions in international agricultural markets.
Doha Round negotiators were operating under a deadline effectively
imposed by the expiration of U.S. Trade Promotion Authority (TPA),
which permits the President to negotiate trade deals and present
them to Congress for expedited consideration. To meet congressional
notification requirements under TPA, an agreement would have to
have been completed by the end of 2006. That now appears unlikely.
TPA expires on June 30, 2007, and most trade experts and officials
think that the authority would not be renewed. As a result of the
suspension of the negotiations, a major source of pressure for U.S.
farm policy change will have dissipated. The current farm bill
expires in 2007, and many were looking to a Doha Round agreement to
require changes in U.S. farm subsidies to make them more compatible
with world trade rules. The option of extending the current farm
law appears strengthened by the indefinite suspension of the Doha
talks. The United States must still meet obligations under existing
WTO agricultural agreements, which limit trade-distorting spending
to $19.1 billion annually. Some trade analysts think that, now that
the Round has been suspended, there could be an increase in
litigation by WTO member countries that allege they are harmed by
U.S. farm subsidies. This report assesses the current status of
agricultural negotiations in the Doha Round; traces the
developments leading up to the December 2005 Hong Kong Ministerial;
examines the major agricultural negotiating proposals; discusses
the potential effects of a successful Doha Round agreement on
global trade, income, U.S. farm policy, and U.S. agriculture; and
provides background on the WTO, the Doha Round, the key negotiating
groups, and a chronology of key events relevant to the agricultural
negotiations. The report will be updated.
General
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