GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Earlier today, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) filed its fourth
counter notification on India’s rice and wheat subsidies to the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Committee on Agriculture. Once again (see
USA Rice Daily, November 12, 2024), the measure details India’s flaws in how they calculate their notifications to the WTO on domestic support which paints a misleading picture to the world about how trade distorting their farm programs really are.
The measure estimates that if India correctly calculated the level of support they provide to their rice farmers through domestic subsidies, the level would be at 86 percent of the market value in 2023/24. This is compared to the ten percent limit India agreed to when it joined the WTO. The measure was co-sponsored by Australia, Paraguay, and Ukraine, all of which have co-sponsored at least one of the other counter notifications.
For well over a decade, the U.S. and others have estimated that India has been exceeding its subsidy limits, hitting levels above 70 percent of the value of production starting in the 2010/11 crop year. And the notification issued today includes an important point: because of the way India classifies its support by various rice types, the actual level of support is understated and likely exceeds the 86 percent estimate.
As a result, USA Rice has called on the U.S. government since the Obama Administration to file a dispute settlement case against India’s domestic support for rice. India hides under the guise of food security, but the reality is that this support has massive trade distorting impacts on the U.S. and the rest of the world’s markets.
“While our ultimate goal is to see a change in India’s policies so that U.S. rice farmers can compete on a more level playing field, in the meantime we need to protect our domestic market through an aggressive import tariff that allows us to regain lost market share,” said USA Rice President & CEO Peter Bachmann. “We’re at a critical time where rice farmers on six continents are losing money because of the policies that India has in place. Something needs to change and we need our allies to come together further at the WTO to take a formal dispute settlement case or we’re never going to see the tides change. We thank both the USTR and the U.S. Department of Agriculture for taking a fourth swing at India and continuing to maintain like-minded support on this effort.”