ABSTRACT
The new Subsidies Agreement has the potential to increase subsidy discipline. Initially, both proponents and opponents of strong subsidy discipline expressed the view that the new Subsidies Code could decrease discipline. The final impact on US countervailing duty law will not be known until the outcome of Subsidies Code dispute settlement panels is known, years hence, but a careful analysis would indicate that only marginal changes are likely. To its credit, the new Subsidies Agreement does provide significantly increased discipline of subsidies in a number of regards. If these provisions function as intended, they should significantly increase discipline on subsidies in the future. As a nonsubsidizer, the United States must give careful thought to the wisdom of opening potential new holes in subsidy discipline, holes that are likely to be aggressively exploited and even abused by US trading partners while the United States is reluctant to take full advantage of them.
