Agricultural subsidies in rich countries cause
overproduction of certain farm products. That
agricultural surplus is often dumped on world
markets, which depresses prices and undermines
unprotected farmers. American support
for the cotton industry, for example, drove the
world prices of cotton down by 10 to 20 percent
in 2002.24 According to Thomas Beierle of
Resources for the Future, overproduction in the
developed world depresses world commodity
prices by 12 percent. Developed countries are
also responsible for 80 percent of the global
price distortions in agricultural commodities.25
Agricultural dumping is an especially serious
problem for many developing countries, where
agricultural production enjoys a comparative
advantage over the developed world. The CAP
alone is estimated to cause US $20 billion worth
of annual losses in poor countries.26