ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a very useful and timely discussion of two main themes: First, the Blair House agreement between the United States and the European Community (E.C.), which dealt with both the oilseed case and the US-E.C. confrontation over agriculture at the Uruguay Round; second, developments of US agricultural policies, especially selected issues concerning such policies. The chapter argues that the fact that a measure of internal support is included, even if it is a cross-commodity average aggregate measure, remains, at least in principle, an important feature of the agreement. It also argues that international negotiations that focus too much on domestic reform are less likely to succeed in their main purpose. The work of agricultural economists contributed to focusing the first negotiating stage of the Round on the level of support rather than the level of trade distortion caused by policies.
