The USA refused to cut the subsidies but, when faced with the threat of retaliation by Brazil, agreed to pay a compensation of USD 147 million annually until the Farm Bill was reformed. The Farm Bill had proved divisive for several reasons -mostly over disagreement on the areas of spending cuts - leading to protracted talks over a period of two years. The compromise reached by lawmakers involves slashing direct payments and instituting new crop insurance subsidies, which altogether will trim the agricultural budget by USD 16 billion over the next 10 years.