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Journalism of Courage
Brazil can retaliate against the US with sanctions worth roughly $300 million a year,under a WTO ruling on Monday in Brazils six-year-old dispute over US cotton subsidies. The World Trade Organisation also said that,under certain circumstances,Brazil can cross-retaliate targeting US services or intellectual property,for instance lifting patent protection on pharmaceuticals,rather than simply raising tariffs on US goods which could hurt its economy.
The compensation was about one tenth of what Brazil had sought and 10 times what the United States had suggested. While we remain disappointed with the outcome of this dispute,we are pleased that the arbitrators awarded Brazil far below the amount of countermeasures it asked for, US trade spokeswoman Carol Guthrie said. The complex WTO arbitration ruling brings to a climax one of the most politicised disputes in WTO history,launched in 2002,which goes to the heart of developing countries calls to reform world trade in agricultural goods.
Brazil is the plaintiff in this case,but US subsidies have affected cotton producers all over the world,especially in sub-Saharan Africa,where the entire GDP of most cotton exporters is smaller than subsidies paid by the US to its 25,000 cotton farmers. The US is also under pressure to cut cotton subsidies in the WTOs Doha round on a new trade deal,on which key ministers are meeting in Delhi this week.
Brazil had sought $2.5 billion in annual retaliatory trade sanctions in the dispute but the US had said a figure of $20-30 million was appropriate.
