India's cotton subsidies 'far exceed' allowable levels, US informs WTO

The US on Tuesday announced that it has submitted a counter notification in the World Trade Organization (WTO) on India's market price support (MPS) for cotton, alleging that it substantially underreported its cotton subsidies.

US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue said that the US submitted the counter notification in the World Trade Organization (WTO) Committee on Agriculture (COA).

"The United States has been calling for WTO reform to improve the review process of various committees in the WTO. To continue to improve transparency in the WTO, the United States filed the second US COA notification under the WTO Agreement on Agriculture regarding another country's measures on November 9, 2018," a statement said.

"Based on US calculations, it appears that India has substantially underreported its market price support for cotton. When calculated according to WTO Agreement on Agriculture methodology, India's market price support for cotton far exceeded its allowable levels of trade distorting domestic support," it said.

The US wants a robust discussion on how India implements and notifies its policies at the next COA meeting, which is scheduled for November 26-27, 2018, it said.