During British talk show the president says it's time for Europe to back away from crop supports, and that the U.S. would do the same.
As the G8 meeting in Edinburgh, Scotland starts this week each side will be posturing ahead of the talks. During a talk show in Britains ITV television network over the weekend, President George W. Bush told viewers the United States was willing to drop its ag subsidies if the European Union would do the same.
In talking about the issue, Bush says "let's join hands as wealthy industrialized nations and say to the world 'we are going to get rid of all agricultural subsidies together.'"
Bush told the program that "we have an obligation to work together to [end subsides] and that's why it's very important that the Doha round of the [World Trade Organization] go forward. The comments are drawing positive reactions from other world leaders.
Australian Trade Minister Mark Vaille backed Bush's call for the approach and called on the European Union to accept Bush's challenge. That country has significantly reduced its subsidies - in part because the rest of the world was supposed to as well - and now it's calling on other nations to follow suit.
Vaille told the wire service AFX that as a percentage of farm income Australia provides about 4%, while the EU provides about 33%.
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