Trade Issues Facing U.S. Horticulture in the WTO Negotiations

New negotiations on trade in agriculture were recently initiated by the World Trade Organization (WTO). It is likely that these negotiations will focus on issues previously addressed by the Uruguay Round Agreement on Agriculture, which placed limits on the use of tariff and non-tariff barriers to trade, export subsidies, and the type and level of spending countries are permitted on domestic support programs. While these disciplines have restricted the ability of member countries to use trade-distorting policies, other factors may have contributed more heavily to increasing U.S. fruit and vegetable trade. For U.S. producers, the Agreement has not been accompanied by an increase in the value of exports as much as had been hoped by the U.S. produce industry. Consequently, U.S. objectives for the upcoming negotiations include further reducing tariffs and improving market access, eliminating and prohibiting the use of export subsidies, and placing further limitations on trade-distorting domestic support programs. Continued monitoring of changes in phytosanitary and food safety protocols is also in the interest of the U.S. produce industry.