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U.S. farmers stand to lose millions with EU sanctions
With U.S. farmers facing higher tariffs on sales to Europe, the American Farm Bureau Federation is urging Congress to bring U.S. laws into compliance with World Trade Organization rules.
"Because of the higher tariffs the EU is imposing on raw agricultural products and the products processed from them, U.S. farmers have unfortunately been drawn into the WTO dispute and will suffer unless a solution to the problem is quickly found," said Stallman. "We urge Congress to act quickly to eliminate the threat of severe disruption that is certain to occur for U.S. exports."
The EU sanctions, which took hold March 1, marks the first time in history the EU has imposed sanctions on U.S. exports under the WTO. The ETI was ruled as an illegal subsidy by the WTO in 2000. Both chambers of Congress have since been working to repeal the act.
AFBF is urging Congress to move quickly on legislation to bring the U.S. export tax program, the Extraterritorial Income Exclusion (ETI), into conformity with the nation's World Trade Organization obligations.
"The EU sanctions could result in heavy losses to U.S. farmers and ranchers if Congress doesn't act soon," said AFBF President Bob Stallman. "Not only is the U.S. agriculture industry facing higher tariffs on soybean meal and other commodities that only apply to U.S. products, we are competing with products from other countries with lower tariffs."
Date: 3/11/04
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