WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is prepared to cut its most trade-distorting farm subsidies by 60 percent in the next five years and eventually eliminate them but wants deeper cuts by the European Union and Japan, U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman said on Sunday.
Striking a deal to cut rich nations' agricultural supports and tariffs is seen as vital if world trade talks are to make progress in lowering barriers on goods and services globally and agree on a blueprint for doing so at a World Trade Organization meeting in Hong Kong in December.
Washington has been under pressure for weeks to come forward with a plan but U.S. negotiators have been loathe to move without more progress on how much other countries would cut their farm tariffs to open their markets to American farmers.
In an opinion piece to be published in the Financial Times on Monday, Portman said the United States wanted to see steep tariff cuts during the next five years, starting from 55 percent up to 90 percent in the highest tariffs in rich countries. In a second stage, tariffs should be brought down to zero, he said in the article, the text of which was obtained by Reuters in advance of publication.
Portman and other American trade officials will host a meeting on Monday in Zurich of their counterparts from the European Union, Brazil, India and a dozen other key World Trade Organization members.
"A ground-breaking result in agriculture is not in and of itself a sufficient outcome," Portman said. "There must also be complementary advances in trade in manufactured goods and services. The U.S. is ready to make tough decisions on agriculture but we cannot do it alone."
The United States also will urge the elimination of export subsidies -- already agreed under a framework agreement struck last year -- by 2010, Portman said.
The EU has proposed a 65 per
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