Ag Trade Said Key
To Next WTO Talks

WASHINGTON —(AP)— A new round of global trade talks could mean billions of dollars a year in higher exports of U.S. crops and food, if the negotiations result in lower tariffs and subsidies, Bush administration officials said Friday.

``The future of agriculture, because we produce so much more than we eat, is in trade,'' said Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman.

Veneman will accompany U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick to Qatar next week for discussions by the World Trade Organization on an agenda for a new round of negotiations on lowering export barriers.

Echoing Zoellick, Veneman said Japan's resistance to lowering tariffs is one of the biggest obstacles to a new round. Japan has a 1000 percent tariff on rice.

The European Union has been opposed to eliminating subsidies on crop exports, a ``big-deal issue'' for the administration, Veneman said.

The United States, in turn, has been criticized for the heavy domestic subsidies it provides to farmers. The administration is pressuring Congress to restrict such subsidies as it works on a long-term extension of federal farm assistance.

J.B. Penn, the Agriculture Department's undersecretary for farm and foreign agricultural services, said several billion dollars each year in increased agricultural trade is at stake in the WTO talks. U.S. farm exports are estimated at $57 billion for the fiscal year that started Oct. 1.

Earlier in the week, Zoellick said an agreement on agriculture would be key to getting support for the trade talks from developing countries.

Japan is refusing to adjust its negotiating position while the United States is agreeing to talk about including its antidumping protections in the talks, Zoellick said. Japanese officials denied they were inflexible on farm trade.