Subsidies, tariffs, and other protectionist policies have long aided American agriculture, though this is not a uniquely American phenomenon. Governments around the world shell out roughly $630 billion a year for their domestic agriculture industries, a level of spending that has roiled markets, trade negotiations, and policy debates for decades. One exception to this trend--and an example that lawmakers in the United States should heed as the Farm Bill's expiration nears--is New Zealand, which abruptly cut all subsidies to farmers in 1984.
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- United States of America
