Little progress has been made in reducing agricultural protection in the past 35 years despite a substantial reduction in trade barriers for other sectors. The importance attached to food and agricultural issues and the influence of politically powerful interest groups have precluded reforms in domestic policies which would make a reduction in trade barriers possible. The difficulty in measuring the level of agricultural protection--complicated by the prevalence of numerous nontaritt barriers--inhibits the dissemination of information which would stimulate the development of political constituencies opposed to protectionist measures. The major U.S. contribution to the negotiation of a liberalization of agricultural trade may be U.S. concessions in nonagricultural sectors