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Senator Dole Defend U. S. Cotton Industry

Date: Dec. 12, 2005
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Trade


SENATOR DOLE DEFENDS U.S. COTTON INDUSTRY

Urges U.S. Trade Representative to oppose unfair proposals in this week's negotiations

U.S. Senator Elizabeth Dole joined six of her colleagues in writing to U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman urging him to oppose any attempts to further single out cotton for detrimental treatment in the Hong Kong trade negotiations, which are occurring this week as part of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Doha Round Talks.

"Congress will not support concessions on cotton without an underlying agreement on agriculture and substantial and meaningful market access commitments," wrote Dole and her colleagues. "The emphasis on one, rather than the whole, not only undermines support in the United States but erodes the credibility of the WTO as an instrument for global policy change."

Background
Several West African nations and the European Union are seeking to separate cotton from the overall negotiations in order to achieve an accelerated end to cotton support programs.

The United States has taken the position that cotton should be included as a fundamental part of the agriculture negotiations, and that any reductions or market access agreements should be part of the overall trade negotiations as well. Singling out commodities, such as cotton, could have a negative impact on the overall objective of reducing support programs and improving market access.

In August 2005, Dole wrote to Portman regarding the Doha Round. She expressed concern that some trading partners have called for the United States to dismantle agricultural support programs, specifically cotton programs.

The WTO Doha Round Talks were launched at the November 2001 Ministerial meeting of the World Trade Organization in Doha, Qatar. These negotiations are subject to congressional oversight since any trade agreement made by the United States must be implemented by legislation passed by Congress.

http://dole.senate.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressReleases.Detail&PressRelease_id=562&Month=12&Year=2005

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