Brazil seeks sanctions against US after WTO ruling on cotton subsidies
1:00 AM
Posted: Wednesday, June 04, 2008
BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) -- Brazil will seek sanctions against the U.S. after winning a World Trade Organization ruling on cotton subsidies, a top Brazilian trade official said Tuesday.
Roberto Azevedo, the Brazilian Foreign Ministry's trade chief, said Brazil will pursue sanctions against the U.S., likely penalizing U.S. trademarks, patents or commercial services if given approval by the WTO.
Azevedo did not indicate what specific penalties his government would pursue.
"We're going to ask for the authorization to retaliate," Azevedo said. "The only alternative (to the sanctions) is if the United States takes steps to fully comply with the WTO ruling, but this is an unlikely scenario."
On Monday, the U.S. lost its final appeal in a billion-dollar trade dispute over subsidies to U.S. cotton growers.
Because of the ruling, Brazil has the right to ask the WTO to authorize retaliatory trade sanctions until Washington scraps the payments.
U.S. trade officials have said they are disappointed with the outcome, and rejected Brazil's complaint that the payments distort the global cotton market.
Sean Spicer, spokesman for the U.S. trade representative, said Tuesday that the office had no comment on the prospect of Brazilian retaliation.
Amaryllis Romano, an agribusiness expert at the Tendencias Consulting Group in Sao Paulo, estimated that Brazil could impose about US$4 billion in sanctions against the U.S. But she said such penalties could be counterproductive because Brazil needs easy access to the U.S. products and services that could be hit.
U.S. lawmakers last month overruled a veto by President Bush and passed a farm bill worth US$290 billion that will largely maintain the cotton payments for the next five years.
Brazil and several West African cotton-producing countries have long claimed that their farmers suffer because of Washington's payments to U.S. cotton growers, which amount to some US$3 billion a year.
Roberto Azevedo, the Brazilian Foreign Ministry's trade chief, said Brazil will pursue sanctions against the U.S., likely penalizing U.S. trademarks, patents or commercial services if given approval by the WTO.
Azevedo did not indicate what specific penalties his government would pursue.
"We're going to ask for the authorization to retaliate," Azevedo said. "The only alternative (to the sanctions) is if the United States takes steps to fully comply with the WTO ruling, but this is an unlikely scenario."
On Monday, the U.S. lost its final appeal in a billion-dollar trade dispute over subsidies to U.S. cotton growers.
Because of the ruling, Brazil has the right to ask the WTO to authorize retaliatory trade sanctions until Washington scraps the payments.
U.S. trade officials have said they are disappointed with the outcome, and rejected Brazil's complaint that the payments distort the global cotton market.
Sean Spicer, spokesman for the U.S. trade representative, said Tuesday that the office had no comment on the prospect of Brazilian retaliation.
Amaryllis Romano, an agribusiness expert at the Tendencias Consulting Group in Sao Paulo, estimated that Brazil could impose about US$4 billion in sanctions against the U.S. But she said such penalties could be counterproductive because Brazil needs easy access to the U.S. products and services that could be hit.
U.S. lawmakers last month overruled a veto by President Bush and passed a farm bill worth US$290 billion that will largely maintain the cotton payments for the next five years.
Brazil and several West African cotton-producing countries have long claimed that their farmers suffer because of Washington's payments to U.S. cotton growers, which amount to some US$3 billion a year.
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