An In-Depth Look at the WTO Panel Report on China’s Grain Subsidies
By Ben Conner, USW Vice President of Policy On February 19, 2019, the World Trade Organization (WTO) released the final report of the panel in the U.S. case alleging that China has not complied with its domestic support commitments on wheat and rice. While the panel disagreed with a few arguments, it agreed with the […]
Fighting for Fairness Through the Rules-Based Trading System
On Feb. 15, 2019, the United States submitted a counter notification, co-sponsored by Canada, in the World Trade Organization (WTO) Committee on Agriculture on India’s market price support for pulse crops – based on publicly available information. With this counter notification, the U.S. government continues to use the rules-based trading system established by the WTO as […]
USW Shares Trade Opportunities with a Post-Brexit United Kingdom
By Ben Conner, USW Vice President of Policy Last week, U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) submitted comments to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative on negotiating objectives for a potential trade agreement between the United States and the United Kingdom (UK). The UK has been part of the European Union (EU) since before the creation […]
2019 Trade Policy Outlook
By Ben Conner, USW Vice President of Policy If there is anything we learned from 2018, it is that the trade policy landscape is unpredictable. While many upcoming or ongoing issues are known, there are a range of possible outcomes within each, some of which could drastically alter the trade landscape in the future. Let […]
To Ag or Not to Ag*
By Ben Conner, USW Vice President of Policy. To Ag. That is obviously the answer. The question is if the trade negotiations between the United States and the European Union should include agriculture at all. We already covered that in August after the two governments agreed to begin negotiations. This week, U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) […]
Administration Help Needed to Protect U.S. Wheat Exports to Japan
Following is a transcript of oral testimony by U.S. Wheat Associates President Vince Peterson at a public hearing held Dec. 10, 2018, by the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) on potential trade negotiations with Japan. “Thank you for the opportunity to speak on behalf of U.S. wheat farmers about trade negotiations with Japan.“Our mission is to […]
Diverse Group of U.S. Farmers Visit Cuban Farms, Discuss Future Relationships
U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) is very pleased to see that the grass roots effort to build a lasting, open trading relationship between Cuba is still going strong. Delegates from the U.S. wheat, soybean, corn, poultry, potato, rice, sorghum and barley industries recently traveled to Cuba to meet with Cuban government officials and farmers. Kansas wheat […]
Twenty-Three Pages You Just Cannot Miss
By Ben Conner, USW Vice President of Policy Longtime readers of “Wheat Letter” know that there is a certain time of year when the “Wheat Letter” must be opened. When its content must be consumed with abandon. When one must read an article so important that – despite all the other wonderful “Wheat Letter” […]
A Wild Trade Ride
By Ben Conner, USW Vice President of Policy U.S. trade policy has been going through a wild ride recently. The current U.S. administration believes that the existing trade architecture is outdated or constricting, and new forms of leverage are needed to achieve its goals. Meanwhile, they have correctly pointed out that some countries seem to […]
In Spite of Trade Conflicts, U.S. Wheat Farmers Will Not Abandon Customers in China
By Vince Peterson, USW President Chinese Vice Minister of Agriculture Han Jun recently acknowledged the decades of work that U.S. farmers have put into growing the Chinese market for U.S agriculture. He then warned that this market may never come back to where it was if the trade dispute with the United States continues much […]
