Blair House Accord

Blair House Accord and the GATT Policy Negotiations

In relation to the GATT Policy Negotiations, Christopher Mark (1993) provided the following explanation and/or definition of Blair House Accord: A bilateral agreement between the United States and the EC Commission, concluded in November 1992 at the Blair House in Washington in an effort to resolve longstanding US-EC differences on agricultural trade issues, which had been blocking conclusion of a comprehensive agreement in the GA TT Uruguay Round. Through the accord, an incipient trade warover oil seeds was averted when Brussels effectively froze subsidized soybean production at current levels, while Washington withdrew a threat to impose 200 percent tariffs on European wines. In addition, the accord stipulated that the final Uruguay Round text should require countries to reduce their tonnage of subsidized grain exports by 21 percent over six years.