About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline

1 1 (August 31, 2021)

handle is hein.crs/govehkx0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Congressional                                                    ____
R' fesearch Service
U.S. Challenges to China's Farm Policies
Updated August 31, 2021
In 2019, the World Trade Organization (WTO) ruled in favor of the United States in two cases that the
Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) filed against China, alleging that China's
agricultural policies were inconsistent with its WTO obligations. The United States and China disagree
about whether China has changed its policies sufficiently to conform to the WTO rulings. On August 30,
2021, the WTO agreed to China's request to establish a dispute panel to review China's compliance on
one of the two cases.
China's Farm Support Spending
In the first case (DS511), USTR contended that China's support policies for growers of wheat, rice, and
corn exceeded the support limit it agreed to in 2001, when it joined the WTO, by nearly $100 billion from
2012 through 2015. USTR asserted that these policies created an incentive for Chinese farmers to increase
production of the subsidized crops, displacing imports and distorting international trade.
On February 28, 2019, the WTO dispute settlement body agreed with major parts of the U. S. complaint,
finding that China had exceeded its domestic support limits for wheat and rice in each year between 2012
and 2015. The WTO body also disagreed with China's methodology for calculating the amount of
domestic support its wheat and rice farmers received. It recommended changes to bring the Chinese
policies into compliance with China's WTO commitments. It did not make a ruling on corn because,
following the 2015 harvest, China made changes to its calculations of corn support prices, making them
less market distorting. China did not appeal the ruling but committed to abide by it. China restated that
commitment in its Phase One trade agreement with the United States in January 2020.
On June 18, 2020, China notified the WTO that China had implemented changes to its rice and wheat
policies to comply with the WTO recommendations. China adopted an approach that the dispute
settlement body had indicated as potentially legal under the WTO's Agreement on Agriculture. China is to
cap the annual quantity of wheat and rice eligible to receive government support at a level substantially
less than total national production. Each year, in advance of planting, China is to announce both the
support prices and the maximum production amounts eligible for government procurement at those prices.
Any quantities produced beyond the announced level would not be eligible for government support and
would therefore not count against support limits.
Congressional Research Service
https://crsreports.congress.gov
IN11469
CRS INSIGHT
Prepared for Membersand
Committeesof Congress

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

profiles profiles most