ADVANCING THE INTERESTS OF AMERICAN FAMILY FARMERS IN WTO TRADE NEGOTIATIONS (House of Representatives - November 08, 1999)

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.

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.

The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Fletcher). Under a previous order of the House, the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Burton) is recognized for 5 minutes.

(Mr. BURTON of Indiana addressed the House. His remarks will appear hereafter in the Extensions of Remarks.)

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