Top American senators have asked Vice President Joe Biden’s administration to file a complaint with the World Trade Organization against India for subsidising its wheat farmers by more than half the value of produce.
The letters from members of Congress and the Senate have been welcomed by US Wheat Associates, which has been aggressively pressing for such a move by the government.
“American commodity producers are operating at a clear disadvantage to their competitors, primarily from India, where the government is subsidising more than half of the value of production for rice and wheat, instead of the 10% allowed under World Trade Organization (WTO) rules,” a group of 28 members of the US Congress wrote in a letter.
“We request that you take prompt action to rectify India’s trend of non-compliance with WTO domestic support standards by filing a dispute settlement case,” the letter to US Trade Representative Katherine Tai and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack added.
Members of Congress penned a letter The US has pressured India to alter its price support programme at the WTO, but to no avail.
“In light of India’s actions, we strongly advise you to begin the WTO litigation procedure by submitting a request for consultations,” they stated.
On January 13, members of Congress sent a letter to Vilsack and Tai requesting that the Biden administration pursue a WTO case against India’s domestic support for rice and wheat production, nearly a month after 18 Senators sent a similar letter to Vilsack and Tai requesting that the Biden administration pursue a WTO case against India’s domestic support for rice and wheat production.
The US has previously highlighted India’s non-compliance through counter-notifications at the WTO Committee on Agriculture.
US Wheat Associates said it was “pleased that several members of Congress have asked Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and US Trade Representative Katherine Tai to pursue a WTO case against India’s trade-distorting domestic wheat and rice support” in a statement in response to the lawmakers’ move.
According to Chandler Goule, CEO of the National Association of Wheat Growers, it is critical that India, as a WTO member, stick to international agreements and not continue to create unfair advantages for its domestic production and distort world commerce.
Indian wheat exports are expected to reach 5 million metric tonnes in the marketing year ending June 30, 2022, according to the USDA (MMT).
“This leaves almost 28 MMT of wheat stocks remaining. The distortion of international wheat and rice trade from these policies is severe, costing US wheat farmers more than USD 500 million per year in lost income according to a 2020 Texas A&M University study commissioned by USW and USA Rice,” according to a media release.