Simulations on Domestic Support and Agriculture Tariffs

Below links to a new set of agriculture simulations on domestic support (AMS and overall support) and on tariffs.

The Domestic Support Simulations were conducted by Canada on behalf of 12 countries. It looks at various reduction options for AMS (otherwise known as the amber box) and the overall reduction commitments (for amber box, blue box and de minimis together). The paper is very technical and complicated but essentially it proves that neither the U.S. nor the E.C. will have to make reductions to their domestic support payments (according to their current proposals) and that in fact, the U.S. in particular, will be able to increase overall spending in the amber and blue boxes and the de minimis (see pages 61 and 62).

The simulations also show that the overall reduction percentage (for amber box, blue box and de minimis together) is as important as the separate reduction percentages for each form of support. The simulations demonstrate that in some cases the separate reduction percentage on each form of support produces a result that forces less cuts than when you make an overall reduction commitment. This will mean that the overall reduction commitment percentage could force further cuts than each separate reduction commitment.

The agriculture tariff simulation was done by Australia to inform the discussions on market access.

Agriculture Domestic Support Simulations:
http://www.tradeobservatory.org/library.cfm?refid=87952

Applied Tariff Simulations:
http://www.tradeobservatory.org/library.cfm?refid=87953