Obama Administration Gathering Info on China Domestic Ag Supports

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It appears the Obama administration late this year, after Nov. 8 elections, will file several trade complaints with the World Trade Organization (WTO) against Chinese support for its corn, wheat and rice industries.

TPP vote linkage? While the White House will deny any such linkage, the timing of the likely trade complaints will be a not so subtle hint to Congress that it is “tough” on China and wants to “enforce” fair trading practices. This, the hope goes, may convince enough lawmakers to vote in favor of a controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) proposal.

Information gathering phase. The Obama administration, including the U.S. Trade Representative’s (USTR) office and USDA are in the process of gathering information about Chinese domestic supports for the three crops. They have even reportedly contracted with at least one if not several university professors to aid in the information-gathering process.

U.S.-China economic, trade and security issues have been escalating, so the ag-related trade skirmish is another on a thorny list of topics.

Should the White House proceed with the WTO trade complaints, they definitely will not be completed before the Obama administration departs. Usually trade complaints are supported by the incoming new team, be they from the Republican or Democratic party.

China sometimes in the past has retaliated even before WTO rulings have concluded. Whether or not that would happen this time remains to be seen.

China currently purchases a lot of U.S. soybeans and is expected to continue buying US pork.

NOTE: This column is copyrighted material; therefore reproduction or retransmission is prohibited under U.S. copyright laws.