The recent WTO cotton ruling has led to a paradoxical result for the United States, a result that seems a textbook illustration of the "law of unintended consequences". Indeed, during the Uruguay Round negotiations of the present WTO agreements, the United States refused to put agricultural...

The majority of the dairy products imported by the United States are intermediate products used in food processing. As such, they are demanded for their components such as milk fat and protein. The implications of the U.S. tariff structure for import demand must be viewed in terms of the...

Recently, the WTO Panel in charge of the softwood lumber case brought by Canada against the United States ruled in favor of Canada. The “benefit conferred” criterion played a critical role in the ruling, which concluded that the United States used a flawed cross-border methodology to...

The impact of domestic support on trade is likely to become an increasingly important issue in the WTO negotiations on agriculture. Domestic support expenditures are increasing and existing disciplines on forms and levels of support are weak. While a shift from market price support to output...

The concept of multifunctionality, in which agriculture is viewed as a source of both commodity and non-commodity outputs, has stimulated debate on the desirability of further trade liberalization. We explore the economics of multifunctionality and its policy implications. We argue for a new...