Explain Some Reasons Why The US Protects The Cotton Industry

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What are some reasons why the U.S. protects the cotton industry? And how do they do it? According to the World Trade Organization, it is of unfair trade practice for a national government to provide subsidies for their nation’s agricultural industry. Despite this, the Unites States provides subsidies for the majority of their national agriculture and specifically cotton subsidies has been the center of international debate in recent years. Since the Untied States provides subsidies to their cotton industry, they remain an international power in “white gold” and this in turn has hindered developing countries in West Africa, who are able to cultivate cotton at a much cheaper price, but are unable to compete when the U.S. grants subsidies to their farmers. If these subsidies would no longer be provided then the U.S. costs for cultivating cotton would be “100x more expensive than in Africa.” The two main reasons why the U.S. continues to protect the cotton industry are tradition and preservation of jobs. During the United States early years, cotton was one of the main reasons as to why the South was able to prosper to such a high degree and the U.S. would like to continue to preserve this industry because of its historical background. Now in today’s society the cotton industry isn’t as large, …show more content…

is able to protect the cotton industry in three ways; by providing subsidies to make their cotton competitive, by setting the international quality standard for cotton, and by making it clear that they will not buy Chinese textiles if they contain less than 80% of American cotton. These reasons put their competitors at a disadvantage, because say for instance another countries cotton is a slightly different shade or texture compared to U.S. cotton, since they set the standard that devalues the cotton of other countries. Also by strong holding the country with the largest textile industry, they are able to assure that their cotton is used readily by the nation of