US takes China to WTO over farm subsidies

The US has accused China of illegally subsidising rice, corn and wheat farmers, adding agriculture to a growing list of Washington's concerns over Chinese overproduction and distortion of global markets.  The launch on Tuesday of a new World Trade Organisation case comes as President Barack Obama is campaigning to get a vast new Pacific Rim trade deal ratified by Congress later this year and selling it as a vital element of America’s strategic response to China’s economic rise.  It also comes amid global concerns about China’s industrial overcapacity and a heated US presidential election in which global trade and China’s impact on the US economy have been central issues.  Washington has stepped up a trade crackdown on China in recent months, introducing steep anti-dumping tariffs on steel imports, launching a flurry of new WTO cases and pushing to resist China’s demands to be treated as a market economy under WTO rules. Tuesday’s case is the 14th it has filed against China during Mr Obama’s presidency but its first major action against Beijing on behalf of the powerful US grain export sector.