The Analysis on the Legality of U. S. Export Credit Guarantee Programs for Agricultural Products from the Perspective of WTO Law

The export credit guarantee program for agricultural products is an important and effective means for the United States of America to encourage its agricultural exports and compete in overseas markets. Under the framework of WTO law,the determination of the legality of U. S. export credit guarantee program for agricultural products depends on whether it constitutes an evasion or evasion threats to export commitments under the Agreement on Agriculture,and whether it falls within the jurisdiction of the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures( SCM Agreement) and constitutes prohibited subsidies under that Agreement. In the Brazil v. U. S. upland cotton subsidies case,it was questioned for the first time the legality of U. S. export credit guarantee programs for agricultural products and such programs were determined to constitute export subsidies and prohibited subsidies and violate the provisions of the Agreement on Agriculture and the SCM Agreement. In response to the infringement potentially brought by U. S. export credit programs for agricultural products against the agricultural interests of our country,we should urge the United States through bilateral negotiations to modify those programs,promote actively the multilateral trade negotiations under WTO in order to formulate relevant rules,make full use of the WTO dispute settlement mechanism,and,if necessary,start domestic countervailing proceedings.