"The United States is willing, under the duty-free, quota-free commitments we will make, to provide duty free access cotton for these West African countries" Rob Portman, the US trade representative said at the WTO talks in Hong Kong thursday . The US is under heavy pressure to drop Cotton tariffs and subsidies. Mali, Burkino Faso, Benin, Chad, and Senegal complain that the tariff free offer does not address the subsidies the US provides to it's domestic cotton growers. The subsidies have been said to be against the WTO's anti-dumping policy. India has a 10\% tariff on cotton imports, under current WTO rules it couldd raise the tariff to 100\% at any time. China imposes a 1\% tariff on the first 4 million bales, afterwhich a tariff of 5\% to 40\% is applied. By comparison the US allows a small amount of cotton at low duties and then applies a 20\% on the remainder. The US Congress has a bill this week containing a cotton program , known as Step 2, which pays exporters and millers to buy US cotton. The WTO has declared the program illegal. African cotton producers have said that they will not endorse any deals that emerge from the Hong Kong talks if rich countries do not reduce cotton subsidies to their  farmers.
"The United States is willing, under the duty-free, quota-free commitments we will make, to provide duty free access cotton for these West African countries" the US trade representative announced at the WTO talks in Hong Kong Thursday . The US is under heavy pressure to drop Cotton tariffs and subsidies. Mali, Burkino Faso, Benin, Chad, and Senegal complain that the tariff free offer does not address the subsidies United States provides to domestic cotton growers. Some countries claim the subsidies against the WTO's anti-dumping policy. India has a 10\% tariff on cotton imports, under current WTO rules it could raise the tariff to 100\% at any time. China imposes a 1\% tariff on the first 4 million bales, after which a tariff of 5\% to 40\% is applied. By comparison the US allows a small amount of cotton at low duties and then applies a 20\% on the remainder. A bill in the US Congress this week contains a cotton program known as Step 2, which pays exporters and millers to buy US cotton. The WTO has declared the program illegal. African cotton producers have said that they will not endorse any deals that emerge from the Hong Kong talks if rich countries do not reduce cotton subsidies to their own farmers.
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