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Christopherson wants to energize world trade talks Tuesday, May 18, 2004
Agri News staff writer
WASHINGTON -- Al Christopherson says he is hoping to jump-start trade talks.
Christopherson, a Pennock, Minn., farmer and president of the Minnesota Farm Bureau Federation, spent May 4-6 in Geneva meeting with trade ambassadors and World Trade Organization staff.
Christopherson traveled with American Farm Bureau Federation president Bob Stallman, a staff member and a consultant. The foursome met with representatives from South Africa, Japan, New Zealand, Australia, Ireland and the European Union in hopes of spurring trade talks that have stalled since negotiations fell apart in Cancun.
"We impressed upon them that we in United States agriculture are extremely concerned about getting going on trade talks," Christopherson said. "The feeling was if we don't show some movement toward re-establishing these trade talks, we'll lose our momentum completely."
The general feeling is that with U.S. elections approaching and other countries replacing trade negotiators in the late summer, action needs to be taken now or negotiations will be on hold until after the election, Christopherson said. Most countries say negotiations must continue because everyone can profit from increased trade, he said, but each country has certain markets it wants to protect.
Market access is a critical component of trade talks, along with export subsidies and domestic support.
"I know that trade frustrates a lot of our own producers, it frustrates me É (but) the options are not good," Christopherson said.
The only answer is to work for good trade agreements and to make sure trading rules are followed.
U.S. farmers are willing to give up some domestic support in exchange for a guarantee of market access, Christopherson said when he called from the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport after testifying before a Senate committee about conservation programs.
Christopherson said two things spur developed nations into trade negotiations. The first is an inkling that domestic support for agriculture will decline. The second is a need to find a home for surplus production.
"I think it's a given that the next farm bill is going to have less money in it," Christopherson said.
Many large newspapers are running editorials critical of farm spending, which is sure to have an impact the next time a farm bill is negotiated.
"It's going to be tougher to get more money out of there, so we've got to be sure we build more markets," he said. |
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