Veneman Calls for More Open Markets

November 12, 2001

Secretary of Agriculture Ann M. Veneman called for greater access to international markets for American farmers and expressed optimism for launching a new round of trade negotiations at the Fourth Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO) that began Friday in Doha, Qatar.

Veneman, participating in agricultural negotiations as part of the U.S. trade delegation led by U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick, hopes to build on achievements of the Uruguay Round that concluded in 1994, and said agriculture is at the centerpiece of the U.S. agenda during the trade discussions.

"This (Bush) administration is committed to increasing trade opportunities for our farmers and fighting to reduce tariffs that harm our ability to compete in the global marketplace," said Veneman. "We are optimistic about what we hope to achieve during these meetings."

She said world population growth is expected to increase by half to 9.3 billion people by 2050 and that rising world population and economic growth mean more potential customers for U.S. farmers and ranchers in the international marketplace. "We intend these trade meetings to help gain more access to new customers," said Veneman. "However, tariffs outside the U.S. on food and agricultural products are too high, averaging over 60%, and we must work hard to bring them down."

Veneman said more balance is needed within trade practices. "Our key objectives for a new global round of agriculture negotiations include the elimination of export subsidies, the substantial reduction of trade-distorting domestic supports that competitors use to put our farmers at an unfair disadvantage in the world marketplace, and reducing barriers to increased market access."

The Secretary also welcomed WTO approval for membership of China and Taiwan. She said substantially reduced tariffs will help move more U.S. farm products to the region. "The integration of China and Taiwan into the global trade community offers timely benefits for U.S. agricultural producers, processors, and exporters," Veneman said. "We hope to build on this accomplishment as we continue our work here in Doha to complete the ambitious agenda of this ministerial by launching new global trade negotiations."

Last year, U.S. agricultural exports totaled more than $2 billion to Taiwan and more than $1.7 billion to China. The two markets ranked as the fifth and sixth largest, respectively, for imports of U.S. agricultural products. "As China and Taiwan reduce their trade barriers and implement their WTO commitments, new export opportunities will emerge for a broad range of U.S. agricultural products, including grains, meats, produce, and processed goods," Veneman said. "We must continue to work hard in ensuring these agreements are fully implemented and comply with WTO rules."

When fully implemented, China's WTO commitments could add approximately $2 billion a year to U.S. agricultural exports. In the 1999 U.S.-China bilateral accession agreement, China agreed to cut tariffs by more than half on priority U.S. agricultural products such as beef (from 45% to 10%), poultry (from 20% to 10%), cheese (from 50% to 12%), oranges (from 40% to 12%), apples (from 30% to 10%), wine (from 65% to 20%), grapes (from 40% to 13%), to name a few. With WTO entry, China also agreed to end import bans, expand trading rights for U.S. firms, and eliminate agricultural export subsidies. These agreements will allow for greater access of other products such as cotton, oilseeds, grains and corn.

Taiwan's WTO accession could add around $500 million a year to U.S. agricultural exports. Under the U.S.-Taiwan bilateral market access agreement, Taiwan agreed to open its rice market for the first time and to increase access for pork, beef, and poultry. Tariffs on some 300 items of key interest to the United States will be cut an average of 45% upon accession