Analysis of the U.S.-European Community Oilseeds Agreement

Note: Claudia Davis, co-author and former student at the University of Georgia, died in 1997 In 1986, the American Soybean Association filed a Section 301 petition under the Trade Act of 1974, alleging that European Community oilseed subsidies nullified and impaired benefits of previous trade concessions, specifically the tariff binding of 1962. Two bilateral trade agreements were negotiated to remedy the dispute, the Blair House Agreement and the Memorandum of Understanding on Oilseeds. The impacts of these trade agreements were simulated using a three region trade model. Results indicated that neither supply constraints nor penalties for overproduction will contribute to a recovery of U.S. soybean exports to the EC