Discuss the role of trade-distorting subsidies in global cotton trade and India's position at the WTO on the Cotton-4 concerns.

Trade-distorting subsidies are government payments that change how much cotton is grown or traded. They are the main complaint of the Cotton-4 (C-4): Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad and Mali. These four countries started a sectoral cotton initiative at the WTO in 2003 [1]. India sides with the C-4 on some issues but not on others.

Role of trade-distorting subsidies in cotton trade

• Lower world prices: Large subsidising producers grow more cotton than the market alone would support. This pushes world prices down, and unsubsidised African farmers must sell at those lower prices [1].
• Only half the problem was fixed: The Nairobi Ministerial Decision (2015) banned cotton export subsidies. Developed countries had to stop at once and developing countries by 1 January 2017. On domestic support, it only asked for "more efforts", with no cut and no deadline [2].
• The complaint continues: At the World Cotton Day 2026 event at UN Headquarters, Mali's Ambassador still listed trade-distorting support as a main problem. He also named weak processing capacity, input costs and market access [3].
• Raw-export trap: With little processing capacity, LDC producers sell raw cotton. Lower world prices therefore cut directly into farm incomes [3].

India's position on C-4 concerns

• Partnership: India co-hosted the 2026 event with Mali, and Mali called India a key partner [3]. Since 2019, India's Cotton Technical Assistance Programme (Cotton TAP) has covered 11 African countries, including all four C-4 members [5].
• India supports its own farmers too: The Cabinet approved ₹1,718.56 crore for the Cotton Corporation of India to buy cotton at MSP in 2023-24 [4]. India treats this as livelihood security. Its cotton is mostly rainfed, and output and yields have fallen in recent years [6].
• Partial overlap: India agrees with the C-4 on ending export subsidies. It is cautious about across-the-board cuts in domestic support, because those would also cover developing-country price support.
• A ready tool: The Nairobi decision invites developing countries that are able to do so to give duty-free, quota-free access to cotton from LDCs [2].

Trade-distorting subsidies keep world prices low and keep LDCs locked into exporting raw cotton, while the WTO has fixed only the export-subsidy part of the problem. India can back the C-4 credibly by offering market access, publishing Cotton TAP results and supporting value addition, while still protecting its own small farmers. This would advance SDG 1 (no poverty) and SDG 17 (partnerships) through genuine South-South cooperation.