Published: December 8, 2008
Updated: December 8, 2008
The revised Falconer Text unfortunately incorporates most of the loopholes in agricultural market access contained in the failed Lamy compromise package offered in July. The additional cuts in agricultural support offered by the United States last July have not led to improvements in agricultural market access.
Instead, those cuts have been incorporated along with provisions that would allow developing countries to exempt 80-90% of their imports from meaningful increases in market access and would allow them to apply import remedies in excess of existing tariff levels.
The negotiating text continues to evolve in a direction that will provide little, if any gains, for U.S. agriculture.