U.S. Farmers Get a Lesson In Global Trade
Cotton Ruling Demonstrates WTO's Power Over Markets

By Paul Blustein
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, April 28, 2004; Page A01


It took Texas cotton farmer George Hoelscher a few minutes yesterday to get his mind around the news that a panel of judges sitting in Geneva, Switzerland -- one from Poland, one from Chile and one from Australia -- had issued a ruling that threatened his livelihood.

But upon learning that the judges were with the World Trade Organization, and that they had ruled U.S. cotton subsidies to be in violation of international trade rules, Hoelscher began to perceive some dark truths.

"We're losing our sovereignty in a lot of ways," said Hoelscher, who farms 1,200 acres of cotton near Corpus Christi and collects up to $15,000 a year in federal subsidies, depending on prices. "This is one more way, having these people dictate to us, along with the United Nations and so forth."

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