VOA标准英语2010-US Subsidizes Brazilian Cotton Farmers in

$147 million fund for Brazil's cotton farmers aims to end long-running WTO dispute

Steve Baragona | Washington, DC 28 April 2010

The U.S. has agreed to establish a $147 million dollar fund to help cotton farmers in Brazil and other countries improve their production.

Related Links
American Farm Bureau Federation¹
Environmental Working Group
International Food Policy Research Institute

American taxpayers² may soon be subsidizing Brazilian cotton farmers in order to protect the earnings³ of U.S. drug companies. That's one way to look at a new agreement aimed at ending a long-running dispute within the World Trade Organization between Brazil and the United States.

It's the first time the U.S. has been penalized⁴ over its farm subsidies⁵. But the resolution leaves some agricultural trade experts scratching their heads.

For years, cotton growers in developing countries have complained about U.S. farm subsidies. The U.S. government wants to help sell more American farm products on the world market. So it provides export companies with financial help to lower their prices on everything from grains and soybeans to dairy products and, in this case, cotton. That pushes down the global market price of cotton.

"For farmers in sub-Saharan Africa who are subsisting⁶ on very little money, a small reduction in price based on American subsidization is a big deal to them," says David DeGennaro with the Environmental Working Group.

WTO rules against US

In 2002, several African countries joined Brazil and took the United States to the WTO over its cotton subsidies.

They won. That's a first.

But the U.S. didn't end the subsidies. So the WTO said Brazil could retaliate⁷ by raising its import tariffs⁸ on U.S. agricultural products.

Brazil, however, is a major farm exporter and doesn't buy that many agricultural products from the U.S. "To have more clout⁹ with the US, [Brazil] said we don't want to just retaliate in agriculture," says David Orden with the International Food Policy Research Institute.

Brazil wanted to hit the U.S. where it would hurt more: by breaking patents on pharmaceuticals¹⁰ and copyrights on movies and software. The WTO agreed, and gave Brazil the right to $260 million dollars worth of U.S. intellectual property this year.

'Bribing¹¹' Brazil

Orden says U.S. officials didn't want that to happen.

"Rather than have Brazil retaliate against us, the U.S. has found a way to bribe¹² Brazil, if you will, to not impose that retaliation¹³ in exchange for various things the U.S. says it will do," he says.

The U.S. has agreed to establish a $147 million dollar fund to help cotton farmers in Brazil and other countries improve their production.

U.S. Department of Agriculture undersecretary Jim Miller¹⁴ says the settlement keeps the U.S. from getting shut out of Brazil, a growing market for American exports.

"Given the fact that the level of retaliation next year would likely increase, we have protected the market for a significant level of goods and intellectual property rights going forward," he says.

'A strange situation'

But David DeGennaro with the Environmental Working Group puts it this way: "It's really kind of ridiculous that American taxpayers are going to be subsidizing Brazilian cotton farmers just so that we can keep on subsidizing our own cotton farmers. It's really a strange situation."

Even Dave Salmonsen with the American Farm Bureau Federation — which represents U.S. farmers — is not an enthusiastic supporter of the U.S. aid to Brazil.

"You got into a negotiation¹⁵, and that was what the Brazilians wanted, and the U.S. negotiators were willing to go along with that," he says. "It's a bit of a groundbreaking thing. Maybe in the future we'll see more of that, but I don't think we've seen this before."

U.S. subsidy¹⁶ programs for maize¹⁷, wheat, and other crops are very similar to the cotton program. So, the U.S. could be in for another big fight at the WTO unless Congress cuts the subsidies. That would very likely spark a big political fight at home with the powerful farm lobby. But with the U.S. running record deficits¹⁸, some say farm subsidies could face cuts when the legislation that governs them comes up for renewal¹⁹ in 2012.
 

1 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

2 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

3 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

4 penalized   

对…予以惩罚( penalize的过去式和过去分词 )； 使处于不利地位

参考例句：

• You will be penalized for poor spelling. 你拼写不好将会受到处罚。
• Team members will be penalized for lateness. 队员迟到要受处罚。

5 subsidies   

n.补贴，津贴，补助金( subsidy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• European agriculture ministers failed to break the deadlock over farm subsidies. 欧洲各国农业部长在农业补贴问题上未能打破僵局。
• Agricultural subsidies absorb about half the EU's income. 农业补贴占去了欧盟收入的大约一半。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 subsisting   

v.（靠很少的钱或食物）维持生活，生存下去( subsist的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Perfect God and perfect man, of a reasonable soul and human subsisting. 衪是完全的神又是完全的人，且有理性的灵魂和人类血肉之躯。 来自互联网
• The benevolence subsisting in her character draws her friends closer to her. 存在于她性格中的仁慈吸引她的朋友们接近她。 来自互联网

7 retaliate   

v.报复，反击

参考例句：

• He sought every opportunity to retaliate against his enemy.他找机会向他的敌人反击。
• It is strictly forbidden to retaliate against the quality inspectors.严禁对质量检验人员进行打击报复。

8 tariffs   

关税制度； 关税( tariff的名词复数 )； 关税表； （旅馆或饭店等的）收费表； 量刑标准

参考例句：

• British industry was sheltered from foreign competition by protective tariffs. 保护性关税使英国工业免受国际竞争影响。
• The new tariffs have put a stranglehold on trade. 新的关税制对开展贸易极为不利。

9 clout   

n.用手猛击；权力，影响力

参考例句：

• The queen may have privilege but she has no real political clout.女王有特权，但无真正的政治影响力。
• He gave the little boy a clout on the head.他在那小男孩的头部打了一下。

10 pharmaceuticals   

n.医药品；药物( pharmaceutical的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• the development of new pharmaceuticals 新药的开发
• The companies are pouring trillions of yen into biotechnology research,especially for pharmaceuticals and new seeds. 这些公司将大量资金投入生物工艺学研究，尤其是药品和新种子方面。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 bribing   

贿赂

参考例句：

• He tried to escape by bribing the guard. 他企图贿赂警卫而逃走。
• Always a new way of bribing unknown and maybe nonexistent forces. 总是用诸如此类的新方法来讨好那不知名的、甚或根本不存在的魔力。 来自英汉非文学 - 科幻

12 bribe   

n.贿赂；v.向…行贿，买通

参考例句：

• He tried to bribe the policeman not to arrest him.他企图贿赂警察不逮捕他。
• He resolutely refused their bribe.他坚决不接受他们的贿赂。

13 retaliation   

n.报复，反击

参考例句：

• retaliation against UN workers 对联合国工作人员的报复
• He never said a single word in retaliation. 他从未说过一句反击的话。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

15 negotiation   

n.谈判，协商

参考例句：

• They closed the deal in sugar after a week of negotiation.经过一星期的谈判，他们的食糖生意成交了。
• The negotiation dragged on until July.谈判一直拖到7月份。

16 subsidy   

n.补助金，津贴

参考例句：

• The university will receive a subsidy for research in artificial intelligence.那个大学将得到一笔人工智能研究的补助费。
• The living subsidy for senior expert's family is included in the remuneration.报酬已包含高级专家家人的生活补贴。

17 maize   

n.玉米

参考例句：

• There's a field planted with maize behind the house.房子后面有一块玉米地。
• We can grow sorghum or maize on this plot.这块地可以种高粱或玉米。

18 deficits   

n.不足额( deficit的名词复数 )；赤字；亏空；亏损

参考例句：

• The Ministry of Finance consistently overestimated its budget deficits. 财政部一贯高估预算赤字。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Many of the world's farmers are also incurring economic deficits. 世界上许多农民还在遭受经济上的亏损。 来自辞典例句

19 renewal   

adj.(契约)延期，续订，更新，复活，重来

参考例句：

• Her contract is coming up for renewal in the autumn.她的合同秋天就应该续签了。
• Easter eggs symbolize the renewal of life.复活蛋象征新生。