[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 156 (Monday, November 8, 1999)]
[House]
[Page H11682]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    ADVANCING THE INTERESTS OF AMERICAN FAMILY FARMERS IN WTO TRADE 
                              NEGOTIATIONS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from North Dakota (Mr. Pomeroy) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. POMEROY. Mr. Speaker, I rise this evening as cochair of the WTO 
Trade Caucus for Farmers and Ranchers to discuss the importance of the 
upcoming ministerial talks in Seattle and the next round of 
multilateral trade negotiations.
  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to be joined by my cochair, the gentleman 
from Idaho (Mr. Simpson) who presented earlier on this very topic. We 
also have across our membership in the task force a bipartisan, 
bicameral group of more than 50 members who are committed to advancing 
the interests of family farmers in trade negotiations.
  The agriculture economy is in dire straits. American farmers are 
reeling from the twin evils of production loss caused by natural 
disasters and price collapse caused by depressed export sales and 
strong global production.

                              {time}  1915

  The crisis in agriculture demands a multifaceted response from 
Congress, ranging from emergency assistance, crop insurance reform, 
safety net reform, and expanding international trade. It is this last 
issue of expanding trade that I will discuss this evening.
  Perhaps no sector of the American economy is any more dependent on 
trade than agriculture. The United States is the single largest 
exporter of ag products in the world. On average, the crops on one out 
of three acres in the United States are exported. Many commodities are 
even more dependent on foreign sales, such as wheat, 1 out of 2 acres 
is exported; sunflower oil, 3 out of 4 acres of which is exported. 
Given the share of farm income that depends on foreign markets, 
American farmers cannot succeed and prosper without robust export 
sales.
  Now, unfortunately, the export market for agriculture has been 
anything but robust. In fact, the value of U.S. agriculture exports has 
fallen from $60 billion in 1996 to a projected $49 billion this year, a 
decline of nearly 20 percent.
  Look at this chart. It tells a very sad tale. It is a small wonder we 
have had that incredible depression in our ag economy with the export 
record like that.
  There are several reasons for the decline in export sales. They 
include the financial crisis in Asia. Despite signs of recovery, we 
continue to see sales lagging in this region, not rehabilitated to what 
they were prior to the crisis. Strong worldwide production has further 
depressed exports and, in turn, depressed the prices for our ag 
commodities.
  In addition to these market forces, however, American farmers are on 
the losing end of export sales because of an unlevel playing field in 
the international market. Around the world, our American farmers are 
not just competing with farmers of other countries in other parts of 
the world relative to their own exports. We are competing against their 
governments as well as they subsidize unfairly their export market.
  The crops grown by American farmers face, on average, a tariff rate 
of 50 percent in foreign markets compared to just 10 percent on what ag 
products face entering our market. With respect to export subsidies, 
the European Union accounts for 85 percent of world export subsidies.
  Just take a look at my second chart this evening. The blue reflects 
European exports. Our slender 2 percent compared to their 85 percent of 
world export subsidies reveals just why our exports are not performing 
and why our ag exports are on the losing end of the present trading 
situation.
  In addition to export subsidies, we know that state trading 
enterprises like the Canadian Wheat Board use their monopoly status to 
engage in discriminatory and secretive pricing practices to undercut 
U.S. producers.
  Now, to build the momentum necessary to tackle these unfair trade 
practices, the gentleman from Idaho (Mr. Simpson) and I formed the WTO 
Trade Caucus for Farmers and Ranchers. The 50-plus members of our 
group, House Members, Senators, Republicans and Democrats, developed a 
list for agriculture trade objectives for the upcoming round including 
the elimination of export subsidies, cutting and, when possible, 
eliminating tariffs, and imposing transparency and market discipline on 
State trading enterprises.
  Our list of objectives was derived from concerns we have heard from 
the farmers we represent as well as the commodity groups themselves. 
This list serves three important purposes. Going into the Seattle 
round, it signals what the United States Congress believes it must have 
out of this round.
  Now, our views are important because, unlike other systems where the 
Government may cut the deal and that is the end of it, whatever comes 
out of this round will be brought back to Congress for approval, and we 
intend to make sure that these objectives are met.

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