Posted on 09/01/2009 12:03:13 AM PDT by bruinbirdman
The World Trade Organisation gave Brazil the green light on Monday to impose $295m (€206m, £181m) of sanctions on US goods over Washington’s failure to scrap illegal subsidies to its cotton farmers.
However, the trade retaliation granted by a WTO arbitrator was barely a tenth of the $2.7bn Brazil had asked for.
Brazil will also not be able to carry out its threat to break US drug patents or retaliate in services unless subsidies rise substantially from 2006 levels.
Carol Guthrie, spokeswoman for the US trade representative’s office, said: “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.”
But Roberto Azevedo, Brazil’s WTO ambassador, claimed the ruling would entitle his country to impose $800m in retaliation this year, including $340m of sanctions on intellectual property or services.
The sanctions aim to reflect the economic damage to Brazil of US payouts to cotton farmers of around $3bn annually.
The subsidies depress world prices and allow 25,000 high-cost American producers to undercut more efficient or lower-cost competitors.
After the WTO’s landmark ruling in 2004, the US Congress eliminated some export credits and in 2006 repealed the so-called Step 2 cotton marketing programme that compensated US exporters and cotton millers for using higher-priced US cotton.
But last year’s US farm bill entrenches other programmes, including marketing loan payments, countercyclical payments and export credit guarantees, held to breach WTO rules.
The Obama administration has followed its predecessor in arguing significant cuts in US cotton subsidies must be contingent on a successful agricultural deal in the faltering Doha round of global trade talks. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. You may share using our article tools. Please don't cut articles from FT.com and redistribute by email or post to the web.
Hope and Change
TT
Wow, our government is doing a real crackup job; isn’t it?
Beat down anything good for the US.
By the time Zippy finishes his first term the only countries speaking to us will be the muslims and communists.
Oh, and didnt our hopey changey leader just grant Brazil’s oil company a multi billion dollar loan guarantee?
This is how Brazil repays us? What is “O” going to do about it... nothing
Ditto.
Now is this the same Brazil that has a petro-chemical company that Hussein loaned $2 Billion? Is that right?
Big Federal/WH shenanigans on Brazil these days. Smells like a big quid pro quo money laundering effort between WH and Soros:
Aug 31 (Financial Times) - - The World Trade Organisation gave Brazil the green light on Monday to impose $295m (€206m, £181m) of sanctions on US goods over Washington’s failure to scrap illegal subsidies to its cotton farmers.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/a583eb44-9658-11de-84d1-00144feabdc0.html?nclick_check=1
The US Department of Justice has alleged that an employee of Brown Brothers Harriman, a US private bank, helped Brazilian clients avoid measures to detect money laundering and conceal the proceeds of crimes including fraud and tax evasion. The DoJ made the allegation in an application to freeze about $450m in an account held at BBH in New York in the name of Tiger Eye Investments Limited, a company registered in the Cayman Islands.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/183060f8-940d-11de-9c57-00144feabdc0.html
Aug. 15 (Bloomberg) — Billionaire investor George Soros bought an $811 million stake in Petroleo Brasileiro SA in the second quarter, making the Brazilian state-controlled oil company his investment fund’s largest holding.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aFHPjfeUvtl8
The U.S. is going to lend billions of dollars to Brazil’s state-owned oil company, Petrobras, to finance exploration of the huge offshore discovery in Brazil’s Tupi oil field in the Santos Basin near Rio de Janeiro. Brazil’s planning minister confirmed that White House National Security Adviser James Jones met this month with Brazilian officials to talk about the loan.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203863204574346610120524166.html
We said George Soros is more of a speculator than an investor. When come to the long equity position, he is willing to take some very concentrated positions in one or two industry. Right now, Oil and Gas is the name of the game, and Consumer Services names are catching up. George Soros’s top five holding as of March 31, 2009 include: Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.Petrobras (PBR), Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. (POT), Hess Corp. (HES), ConocoPhillips (COP), Lowe’s Companies Inc. (LOW)”
http://www.gurufocus.com/news.php?id=57768
(July 16th)
General Motors is spending more money where it counts: Latin America. The Latin American market has been generous to the struggling automaker despite struggles at home. Today, GM announced a $1 billion plan to expand its vehicle lineup in Brazil.
http://www.mlive.com/auto/index.ssf/2009/07/general_motors_announces_1_bil.html
If a tree falls in Brazil, it will, in fact, be heard in the U.S. - at least if a little-noticed provision in the pending climate-change bill in Congress becomes law. As part of the far-reaching climate bill, the House is set to vote Friday on a plan to pay companies billions of dollars not to chop down trees around the world, as a way to reduce global warming.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jun/25/climate-bill-gives-billions-to-foreign-foliage/
(June 17th)
The global financial crisis has reduced the differences between nations and created the opportunity to form a new world order, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Wednesday. [This was at the ‘BRIC’ conference - Brazil, Russia, India, China - for developing nations]
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.db1c3a82d0827b5cdf05eea3ba146af8.511&show_article=1
Brazil purchases 250 German Leopard tanks to guard its borders The Brazilian army purchased 250 German leopard 1 A5 tanks which will be displayed mainly along the country’s 16.000 kilometres of land and fluvial borders thus reinforcing its dissuasive capacity in the event of foreign attacks.
http://en.mercopress.com/2009/08/04/brazil-purchases-250-german-leopard-tanks-to-guard-its-borders
French, Swedish and US defense companies pursuing a four-billion-dollar deal to replace Brazil’s aging fleet of fighter jets are stepping up lobbying efforts ahead of a decision expected within the next couple of months.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hcWS3yUEGTtRQuN20bJ93-gqioiQ
Georgia’s unemployment figures are from the textile industry moving to Brazil. They can pound sand on the cotton issue because it’s about damn time some nation gets to feel SOME penalty.
I’m tired of America making the sacrifices so a few who own the corporations (yes, I’m complaining about that when they are destroying America for profit) and some other nation gets the jobs.
why does the US need cotton subsidies when all our clothes are made in asia
Correcto. A state owned petro company. So it is very appealing to The Obammunist.
yitbos
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