John Block Reports from Washington

Here I find myself back from Montana -- not on a horse now but at my desk thinking about Washington, DC and government's influence on agriculture. We have our farm bill. That's Good. Trade Promotion Authority has passed. That's good. Those two actions lay the groundwork for the next step. The next step is up to President Bush and Trade Ambassador Robert Zoellick. The President has the authority to negotiate trade deals and he has the leverage of a strong U.S. farm bill to bargain with.

The plan Robert Zoellick has presented eliminates export subsidies. I can just hear the European farmer screaming like a stuck pig. I remember in 1983 when I used our own export subsidies to compete with Europe. They were killing us. Why not fight fire with fire? We haven't used export subsidies in recent years but Europe has never stopped. The Zoellick plan calls for a systematic reduction in import tariffs also and that would be a huge benefit to the American farmer. Our Ag tariffs are about 4%. Other countries average 30% or more. We need market access. Finally, the plan moves to eliminate trade distorting domestic Ag supports. That last point makes U.S. farmers nervous. We just got a solid farm bill passed and the suggestion that it could be altered is not welcome.

Here is what I think -- the Zoellick trade plan is ambitious and comprehensive, but nothing is ever agreed to internationally in total. In fact, if half of the plan becomes international trade law, I'll be surprised.

We've been fighting over trade issues forever, and we're not going to magically see everyone agree on anything. Although the Zoellick plan is sound, the national politics in each individual country involved will surely limit the success. It's all uphill. Don't worry about our farm bill.

Until next week, this is John Block reporting from Washington.