US President Mr George W. Bush signed a six-year law boosting US crop and dairy subsidies by 67 per cent today despite protests from trading partners.
The law adds an estimated $6.4 billion a year to crop and dairy spending and marks a further retreat from free-market reforms begun in 1985.
President Bush signed the $51.7 billion farm law during a 12-minute ceremony timed to win coverage on early morning farm newscasts before leaving the White House for a trip to Chicago.
The law also raises conservation spending by 80 per cent and restores food-stamp eligibility to legal immigrants in the United States for five years. Food stamps are the major US anti-hunger measure.
Canada, Australia, the European Union and Brazil have complained the law contradicts US calls for freer farm trade. But no one has vowed to challenge it before the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
The United States is a very strong voice in ongoing world trade talks to remove trade barriers and reduce reliance on trade-distorting farm subsidies.