US wants 80pc cut in EU, Japan domestic farm aid
Afp, Zurich
US trade chief Rob Portman called on the European Union and Japan on Monday to cut their domestic farm aid by 80 percent. Portman said it was up to major players to take bold steps if they were to kickstart struggling World Trade Organisation talks on liberalising global commerce. "I don't think it's unfair to ask countries who subsidise more than us to at least come closer to us," Portman told reporters ahead of a WTO gathering in Zurich. Earlier, the US official had set out a proposal that would see the US cut its own domestic farm aid by 60 percent.
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