Top US trade officials will travel to Africa next week, according to industry and diplomatic sources, for meetings likely to center on demands by some of the world's poorest cotton producers that Washington scrap big subsidies for US farmers.
"US Trade Representative Rob Portman will be going to Africa the week of November 7," said a spokeswoman for the National Cotton Council, when asked if US officials would be discussing the so-called West African initiative.
US trade officials were not immediately available for comment.
World Trade Organisation member countries are scrambling to meet a December deadline for agreement on how to slash rich nations' farm subsidies as part of a broader plan to lower trade barriers and try to lift millions out of poverty. Farm goods are center stage because many poor nations depend on agricultural exports and say they need a deal here first.
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