Trade liberalization may stimulate the production of medium-/short-grain rice in other countries but currently traded varieties are mainly suitable for temperate climates. Thus, South American production, particularly in Argentina and Uruguay, could develop adapted varieties more quickly. Many other developing countries have tropical or subtropical climates; thus, these countries would likely require some time before commercial development of varieties that would be competitive in a liberalized global market for medium-/short-grain rice. Production capacity for medium-grain rice in Australia and the United States and to some degree in China is increasingly constrained by a lack of irrigation water.