US set to reconsider agricultural subsidies

My guess is they will try to put this off to lessen impact to elections--Dictynna.

By Jeremy Grant in Washington and Alan Beattie in London
Published: October 6 2005 22:55 | Last updated: October 6 2005 22:55

The US administration on Thursday said the country needed to “think beyond the boundaries of current farm policy” in a sign that it was prepared to reconsider decades of reliance on direct agricultural subsidies for its farmers.

The comments, made by US agriculture secretary Mike Johanns, are the first clear sign that the US is preparing to make a case to lawmakers and the country’s powerful farm lobby that the US may need to remove trade-distorting subsidies that make the US vulnerable to legal challenge in the World Trade Organisation.