Former Australian Prime Minister John Howard, who will speak at a trade conference in Salt Lake City on May 20, says farm subsidies and trade barriers should be eased to combat global food shortages and rising food prices.
In an interview, Howard said he will tell the Zions Bank International Trade and Business Conference that the justification for protecting agriculture has been undermined by rising prices that have aggravated shortages and triggered riots in poor countries worldwide.
"The big moral challenge in economics at the present time is the alarming increase in the cost of food and the impact that's having on poor countries. More than ever, I would argue that the subsidies and restrictive trade practices applied to agriculture should be eased," Howard said.
The conference at the Salt Lake City Marriott Downtown hotel will be headlined by Howard, one of President Bush's staunchest allies until he was turned out of office by voters in November.
His first visit to the United States since the election comes at a time when international sales by companies based in the Intermountain West are growing rapidly, helped by the weak U.S. dollar which has fueled exports.
On Friday, the Commerce Department said the value of U.S. exports in March totaled $148.5 billion, the second-best level on record, but down 1.7 percent from the all-time high set in February.
Howard said he is surprised at the rapid onset of the food crisis. Just a year ago, there was an abundance of food and the only problem was that it wasn't being distributed properly.
Since then, a confluence of events have eliminated the surplus, Howard said. China's burgeoning middle class wants higher-protein food, which is more expensive to produce. At the same time, many countries are subsidizing biofuels and ethanol production, which has resulted in a lot of the world's grain supply being diverted from food. And drought in several parts of the world has affected food production.
Meanwhile, some politicians in the United States and Europe are suggesting that free trade laws should be weakened and new restrictions placed on imports, Howard said.
"I'll say [to the conference] that this is a very bad time in the history and experience of the world for protectionism to rear its head again," he said. "Farmers are now getting potentially better returns because food is in short supply, and it's important that we pursue a more open trade policy in relation to agriculture."
Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama has said he would amend the North American Free Trade Agreement to help American workers. He has also pledged to pressure the World Trade Organization to enforce trade agreements and stop countries from continuing unfair government subsidies to foreign exporters, including farmers.
Challenger Hillary Rodham Clinton said she would take a "timeout" from new trade agreements until her administration has formulated a comprehensive trade policy that protects American workers hurt by global trade. She also would overhaul NAFTA.
"I have followed some of the debate in the presidential campaign about China, about the North American Free Trade Agreement. Certainly the debate has had some protectionist overtones," Howard said.
John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential candidate, promises to end ethanol subsidies, tariff barriers and quotas that drive up food prices.
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