[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 64 (Tuesday, May 19, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Page S5135]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page S5135]]
 SENATE RESOLUTION 232--EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE SENATE RELATIVE TO 
                   EUROPEAN UNION SUBSIDIES OF BARLEY

  Mr. DORGAN (for himself, Mr. Kempthorne, Mr. Wyden, Mrs. Murray, Mr. 
Johnson, Mr. Baucus, Mr. Craig, Mr. Burns, Mr. Smith of Oregon, Mr. 
Conrad, Mr. Gorton, Mr. Daschle, Mr. Enzi, and Mr. Thomas) submitted 
the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 
Finance:

                              S. Res. 232

         
       Whereas, in an unprecedented sale, the European Union 
     entered into a contract with a United States buyer to sell 
     heavily subsidized European barley to the United States;
       Whereas the sale of almost 1,400,000 bushels (30,000 metric 
     tons) of feed barley was shipped from Finland to Stockton, 
     California;
       Whereas news of the sale depressed feed barley prices in 
     the California feed barley market;
       Whereas, since the market sets national pricing patterns 
     for both feed and malting barley, the sale would mean 
     enormous market losses for barley producers throughout the 
     United States, at a time when the United States barley 
     producers are already suffering from low prices;
       Whereas the European restitution subsidies for this barley 
     amounts to $1.11 per bushel ($51 per metric ton);
       Whereas the price-depressing effects of this one sale will 
     continue to adversely affect market prices for at least a 9-
     month period as this grain moves through the United States 
     marketing system;
       Whereas this shipment is part of about 2.1 million metric 
     tons of European feed barley that have been approved for 
     restitution subsidies by the European Union this year;
       Whereas the availability of the additional subsidized 
     European barley in the international market not only 
     artificially depressed market prices, but also threatens to 
     open new import channels into the United States;
       Whereas, as the world's largest feed grain producer and the 
     world's largest exporter of feed grains, the United States 
     does not require imported feed grains;
       Whereas, at the same time that subsidized European barley 
     is being imported into the United States, some United States 
     feed grains are prevented from entering European markets 
     under European Union food regulations;
       Whereas United States barley growers continue to suffer the 
     negative impacts of the sale, regardless of whether the 
     subsidized European barley was originally targeted for sale 
     into the United States and whether the subsidies comply with 
     the letter of current World Trade Organization export subsidy 
     rules; and
       Whereas the sale not only undermines the intent and the 
     spirit of free trade agreements and negotiations, it also 
     moves away from the goals of level playing fields and 
     fairness in trade relationships: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved,

     SECTION 1. SENSE OF SENATE ON EXPORT OF EUROPEAN BARLEY TO 
                   THE UNITED STATES.

       It is sense of the Senate that--
       (1) the European Union should--
       (A) take immediate steps to waive the penalty for failure 
     to use restitution subsidies for barley exported to the 
     United States; and
       (B) establish procedures to ensure that restitution and 
     other subsidies are not used for sales of agricultural 
     commodities to the United States or other countries of North 
     America;
       (2) the President of the United States, the United States 
     Trade Representative, and the Secretary of Agriculture should 
     immediately consult with the European Union regarding the 
     sale of European feed barley to the United States in order to 
     avoid any future sale of any European barley to the United 
     States that is based on restitution or other subsidies; and
       (3) not later than 60 days after approval of this 
     resolution, the United States Trade Representative and the 
     Secretary of Agriculture should report to Congress on--
       (A) the terms and conditions of the sale of European barley 
     to the United States;
       (B) the results of the consultations under paragraph (2);
       (C) other steps that are being taken or will be taken to 
     address to such situations in the future; and
       (D) any additional authorities that may be necessary to 
     carry out subparagraphs (B) and (C).

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