U.S. rice policy in transition

The U.S. national legislation has affected and shaped the U.S. rice sector over the past 70 years. Price support, income support, and supply control programs made major contributions to the safety-net programs for the U.S. rice sector. This paper provides an overview of historic U.S. rice policy changes and support levels for U.S. rice producers. Finally, issues that will be important for the U.S. rice sector during the upcoming negotiations 6f the Doha Development Agenda are identified. The U.S. has exported approximately 50% of its rice production even though its domestic consumption has increased gradually. In addition, since rice has been considered one of the political commodities in the U.S. and other countries, such as Japan and South Korea, there has been political pressure to the government from the rice producer groups, especially exporter groups. Therefore, it might be reasonable that a political economic approach be incorporated into the rice market research.