Questions about agricultural trade Are there many cases of agricultural trade disputes?

The opening article of the Agricultural Trade Questions column introduced "how to fight'economic lawsuits' between countries".
In 2019, an article introduced the case of the cotton subsidy trade dispute between Brazil and the United States .
This also raises a problem.
Agricultural trade often occurs.
Is it a trade dispute? The answer is yes.
WTO members often sue other members in order to protect their agricultural trade interests.
As a result, there are frequent agricultural trade disputes between members
.
From its establishment in 1995 to the end of 2020, the WTO Dispute Settlement Body has received a total of 600 cases of trade disputes, of which more than 120 cases of agricultural trade disputes
.
Agricultural product trade accounts for about 10% of the world's total trade in goods, and the scale is much smaller than that of manufacturing products and energy products, but trade disputes account for more than 20%.
Obviously, agricultural trade disputes are frequent
.

 

What is the cause of the agricultural trade dispute?

 

To answer this question, you first need to understand how trade disputes arise
.
In layman's terms, if WTO member A believes that member B has violated the obligations stipulated by WTO rules or has taken any other measures, regardless of whether these measures violate WTO rules, if the direct or indirect interests of member A are caused damage, armor members can file a complaint, the WTO dispute Settlement Body will be in accordance with the ruling of the trial program merits and demerits and B, thus forming a trade dispute between members of the a and B
.
Member A who is suing is the plaintiff, and member B who is responding is the defendant
.

 

　　These over 120 agricultural trade dispute cases can be summarized into four categories: one is tariff measures, including import and export tariffs and quotas, and the other is non-tariff trade measures based on technical barriers, including technical standards for genetically modified products, and regulations on pest control.
, Product classification standards, requirements for certificate of origin, requirements for trademarks and geographical indications, etc.
; third is trade remedy measures, including countervailing, anti-dumping, safeguard measures and special safeguard measures specific to agricultural trade; fourth is the agricultural industry policy within the respondent members , Including agricultural domestic support policies and agricultural product price policies
.

 

　　Judging from the current agricultural trade dispute cases, among the above four types of measures, tariff measures are the most sensitive to disputes, and the corresponding trade disputes have the largest number, accounting for 40% of agricultural disputes
.
The number of disputes caused by trade remedy measures and non-tariff measures each accounted for about 30%, with the former being slightly more
.
The agricultural industry policy-related cases are the least, but the impact is not small
.
For example, in the trade dispute between Brazil and the United States on cotton subsidies, Brazil believes that the US cotton subsidy policy measures have harmed the Brazilian cotton industry and filed a complaint with the WTO
.

 

　　Which WTO members are fighting the agricultural trade disputes?

 

　　Developed members of the WTO are major complaints of trade disputes.
In a total of 600 trade disputes, the United States, the European Union and Canada prosecuted 132, 104, and 40 cases respectively, accounting for more than 45% of the total number of cases
.
The situation in agricultural trade disputes is similar.
There are more than 120 agricultural trade disputes initiated by 28 members.
Among them, the United States has the largest number of complaints, up to 35 times, followed by Canada 13 times, and the European Union 12 times.
These three initiated almost half of them.
Agricultural trade disputes
.
Among other members, the most prosecuted cases are Argentina and Brazil, with 10 and 9 cases respectively
.
Developed members such as Europe and the United States are also defendants in many disputes.
The European Union is the subject of prosecutions in 34 cases and the United States has been prosecuted 19 times
.
Among the developing members, Chile and Peru responded more frequently, with 8 and 7 responses respectively
.

 

　　How to treat agricultural trade disputes?

 

　　Trade frictions are unavoidable in the process of international trade.
The WTO Dispute Settlement Body has tried to judge trade disputes between members, maintaining the seriousness of multilateral trade rules and the stability of the international trade order, and has played a difficult role in promoting the development of world trade.
The role of substitution
.
It is the right of all WTO members to use the WTO dispute settlement mechanism to resolve differences and contradictions with other members.
On the one hand, they should take the initiative to complain when their agricultural trade interests are harmed, and make full use of multilateral rules to promote and safeguard the interests of the agricultural industry; The parties must respond to the lawsuit in accordance with the regulations and safeguard their due rights
.
China is a staunch supporter of multilateral trade rules and an active participant in the WTO dispute settlement mechanism.
It has successfully sued the European Union’s poultry meat tariff quota management measures and the US anti-dumping measures in the agricultural field, actively safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of the domestic agricultural industry
.