The U.S. is appealing a World Trade Organization (WTO) ruling that U.S. cotton subsidies violate international trading rules.

The U.S. states in a letter that the dispute settlement body (DSB) had based its ruling against it on “erroneous findings on issues of law and related legal interpretations.”

The U.S. plans to appeal, among other things, the DSB finding that American subsidies have suppressed world-market prices for cotton.

Fourteen points will be challenged in the ruling. The appellate body has up to three months to study the objections. “The facts don't show that U.S. farm programs have distorted trade and caused low cotton prices,” says U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick.