Redstate

Posted at 7:31pm on Dec. 17, 2007 Nourishment Is Expensive These Days

By Pejman Yousefzadeh

Get ready. The price of food is skyrocketing:

Import tariffs for major agricultural commodities, in particular cereals, vegetable oils and rice, are being slashed in an effort by developed and developing countries to cushion their local markets against rising food inflation.

The move comes as food inflation, which hit countries over the summer, shows signs of resurgence, with cereal prices rising sharply, boosted by strong demand, in particular from China, and tumbling inventories.

Turkey is the latest country to announce a reduction in custom duties, having recently cut its import tariff for wheat from 130 per cent to 8 per cent, for corn from 130 per cent to 35 per cent and scrapped the previous 100 per cent duty for barley.

The European Union - the world's top importer of wheat and one of the largest buyers of soyabean and corn - has also announced that it will set zero import duties for cereals until next June.

See also this. It's nice to see that tariffs are being slashed. Of course, they should have been slashed long ago and now, there is a concern that tariff cuts won't keep up with the rate of inflation when it comes to food. Note as well a cause of food inflation that the article missed: The reliance on ethanol as an alternative source of energy, a policy shortcoming that I noted here almost one year ago.

Posted in Economy | Ethanol | Food Prices | Food Tariffs — Comments (5)/ Email this page » / Read More »