Brazil Plans Sanctions

Brazil asked the World Trade Organization for permission to block $3 billion worth of US trademarks, patents, and financial and engineering services until the US ends illegal cotton subsidies to American farmers. WTO judges ruled in March that US cotton aid breeches commitments signed in 1994. If applied, the sanctions would be the first time any of the WTO’s 148 governments retaliated by targeting commercial services and property rights rather than increasing tariffs. The World Bank has calculated that US cotton subsidies, as well as support to Chinese and European growers, lowers world prices by as much as 15 percent.