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Posted by Ross Korves
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Friday, 18 April 2008 |
 Last week the Finance Ministers of the G7 countries, the U.S., Canada, Japan, U.K., Germany, France and Italy, met in Washington, DC in conjunction with meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. While the ongoing global credit crisis centered in the U.S. garnered much of the attention, it was upstaged at times by growing concerns in 30-40 developing countries over the increased cost of food.
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News 
Reports that Thailand is interested in starting an international cartel of rice producing countries, the Organization of Rice Exporting Countries, should not be a surprise. Temporarily high prices in the past have caused governments to contemplate maintaining those prices to the advantage of their producers at the expense of consumers in other countries. That the proposal comes after seven years of negotiations on a new WTO agreement on freer trade is an indication of why a new agreement has been so difficult to achieve.
Rice prices at $1,000 per metric ton compared to $200-300 per metric ton for most of this decade have grabbed media attention around the world. The easy explanation is increased production of biofuels like ethanol and biodiesel. A closer look at the numbers shows a global industry at the beginning of a transition that will have major impacts on production, consumption and trade.
The terms of the recently agreed to protocol by the U.S. and Korean governments on Korea’s importation of U.S. beef will be closely read and analyzed by many groups. It will increase demand for U.S. beef and could play a role in acceptance by Congress of the U.S.-Korean Free Trade Agreement (FTA). It will also set the standard for other countries like China, Taiwan and Japan to accept all U.S. beef and be a yardstick to measure similar contentious, science-based trade policy issues. 
On April 7 President Bush sent to Congress a letter with legislation to implement the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement (FTA). House Democratic leaders have responded by suspending action indefinitely through a 224-195 vote to change House rules. The unique situation in U.S-Colombia trade relations warrants another look at the potential for the agreement.
