EU and US free-trade talks launched

[Sheilbh]

Agriculture is overrated and I would love to see agricultural lobbies influence here (and I guess elsewhere) broken. They wield way too much political clout for their comparative relevance.

Agreed. New Zealand more or less eliminated their agriculture subsidies (OECD has it at 1% of total agriculture output) and they cut it by 80% in the course of one term. Which is extraordinary given that their agriculture sector is very large comparatively and that it's also one of the most successful in the developed world.

[Josquius]

Agriculture is the big sticking point in the Japanese pan-pacific free trade negotiations I beleive too. US agricultural practices really do leave a lot to be desired it would seem.
Anyway. Hope this happens. Sounds like a good thing and a nice step towards a pan-first world EU , ,etc...

[Neil]

How can Jos come out against agricultural subsidies?  He's the guy who constantly damns Thatcher for not engaging in the subsidization of coal mines.

[Josquius]

How can Jos come out against agricultural subsidies?  He's the guy who constantly damns Thatcher for not engaging in the subsidization of coal mines.

I've said nothing about my views on agricultural subsidies.

[Neil]

How can Jos come out against agricultural subsidies?  He's the guy who constantly damns Thatcher for not engaging in the subsidization of coal mines.

I've said nothing about my views on agricultural subsidies.

Given the tone of your post and the context of the discussion, it's not unreasonable to assume that your condemnation of 'US agricultural practices' could include subsidies.

[Grey Fox]

How can Jos come out against agricultural subsidies?  He's the guy who constantly damns Thatcher for not engaging in the subsidization of coal mines.

I've said nothing about my views on agricultural subsidies.

Given the tone of your post and the context of the discussion, it's not unreasonable to assume that your condemnation of 'US agricultural practices' could include subsidies.

It's Tyr, he's knocking it down because it's different.

[Josquius]

It's Tyr, he's knocking it down because it's different.

How can Jos come out against agricultural subsidies?  He's the guy who constantly damns Thatcher for not engaging in the subsidization of coal mines.

I've said nothing about my views on agricultural subsidies.

Given the tone of your post and the context of the discussion, it's not unreasonable to assume that your condemnation of 'US agricultural practices' could include subsidies.

I never condemned anything. Its other people doing that.

[Razgovory]

   Oh Tyr.

[Zanza]

Germany calls for sweeping EU-US free trade deal

German economy minister Philipp Roesler wants the European Union and the United States to reach a comprehensive transatlantic free trade agreement rather than settle for the limited deal some southern EU nations favour.

Mr Roesler told Der Spiegel magazine on Sunday he and the German government want a sweeping free trade deal, while France and southern EU nations, by contrast, want to protect their agriculture industry with regulations and also keep out genetically modified US foodstuffs, the magazine said.

The German economy minister has backing from a study by the Ifo economic institute think tank that said the advantages of the free trade zone would be larger with a comprehensive deal.

"We're striving to achieve a major breakthrough and we're not just looking for a minimal consensus," he told Der Spiegel. "It would be damaging to put limits on the agenda for the talks beforehand and exclude certain sectors."

The Ifo study, carried out for Germany's economy ministry, found that per capita gross domestic product (GDP) would rise by 0.1pc in the EU and 0.2pc in the United States with the free trade deal if only customs barriers were abolished.

But more could be expected if the governments introduced common technical standards, safety standards and competition rules, Ifo said.

The United States and the EU aim to start negotiating a vast free trade pact by June, but the plan faces many hurdles before it could help revive the world's top two economies.

The deal would be the most ambitious since the founding of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 1995, embracing half of world output and a third of trade.

But after a year of preparatory discussions between Brussels and Washington, major differences remain, such as EU resistance to importing US foodstuffs that are genetically modified.

Once the US Congress is notified and all 27 EU states assent to the talks going ahead, the sides hope for a deal by the end of 2014 - a tight deadline in international trade talks.

The deal has support at the highest level - it was mentioned by US President Barack Obama in his speech to Congress and cast as a central pillar of Britain's G8 presidency this year.

With import tariffs between the two already limited, at an average of 4pc, talks will focus on harmonising standards - from car seat belts to household cleaning products - and regulations governing services.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/9875816/Germany-calls-for-sweeping-EU-US-free-trade-deal.html

Too bad we burned so much political capital on the Euro crisis. It would be great if we could convince/bully our European partners towards this.

[Admiral Yi]

I never condemned anything. Its other people doing that.

?? Most of us interpret "US agricultural policies leave a lot to be desired" as a condemnation.  Please explain how it is not.

[Iormlund]

Too bad we burned so much political capital on the Euro crisis. It would be great if we could convince/bully our European partners towards this.

Many people would lose a fuckton of money with reduced agriculture subsidies and quite a few of those are very rich and influential. It would also translate into further cuts for southern regions with 30-40% unemployment and huge budget gaps (Andalucía, Murcia, Valencia ...).

That being said Rajoy is an extremely incompetent Pres and he's assailed by bigger problems at home so so I wouldn't put it past him to come back with yet another failure. Plus in any case you still control the purse of the ESM, although it's true that Draghi seems to have eroded that power quite a bit with his intervention last summer.

[Eddie Teach]

I never condemned anything. Its other people doing that.

?? Most of us interpret "US agricultural policies leave a lot to be desired" as a condemnation.  Please explain how it is not.

Maybe he's saying US agricultural subsidies are bad for Europe and not that they're bad for the US.

[Josquius]

I never condemned anything. Its other people doing that.

?? Most of us interpret "US agricultural policies leave a lot to be desired" as a condemnation.  Please explain how it is not.

Because you cut off "it would seem."
Its Japan and Europe who are having problems in their negotiations with the US due to the policies. I've no idea what they are.

[dps]

Many people would lose a fuckton of money with reduced agriculture subsidies

That's really the problem with trying to eliminate them.  Most people, if they think about them at all, see them as a bad policy and support eliminating (or at least reducing) them, but nobody really sees themselves as being personally negatively impacted by them directly, so even those who favor their elimination rarely make it a priority.  OTOH, those who directly benefit from them, while small in numbers, make keeping them a major priority, often their #1 political priority.

[MadImmortalMan]

Do you think there would be support on both sides of the Atlantic to remove them?