WTO to admit failure to secure Doha deal this year
By BRADLEY S. KLAPPER, Associated Press Writer
Friday, December 12, 2008 3:48 PM CST
GENEVA - The World Trade Organization was set to admit Friday its failure to secure a new global commerce pact before the end of the year because of a row between the United States and emerging economies over agricultural and industrial goods, officials said.
WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy had hoped to invite top trade negotiators to Geneva this weekend to work out the many issues hindering a deal designed to lift millions of people out of poverty and add billions of dollars to the global economy through lower trade barriers.
Lamy canceled the meeting earlier this week, and was to announce Friday that he would not recall ministers for crunch talks until perhaps sometime next year, officials said.
“I think it is the prudent thing to do given the gaps we have seen,” U.S. Ambassador Peter Allgeier said. “We are deeply disappointed we have not reached that stage yet.”
Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim said he still favored meeting soon with top government officials from the U.S., European Union, India and other countries. But he admitted that such a gathering would be to gain clarity of each other’s positions, and not to hammer out a deal.
Argentina’s trade negotiator Nestor Stancanelli added that he did not foresee a ministerial gathering before next year.
The Doha talks, which were kicked off in Qatar’s capital in 2001, have suffered a number of debilitating collapses, and some diplomats, politicians and industry groups had expressed concern that Lamy was forcing through a meeting that stood little chance of success. Negotiating drafts released last weekend showed the WTO’s 153 members were divided over the same issues that scuppered the last major effort, a nine-day summit in July.
That collapse had led many to write off any short-term chances for a deal. But, prompted by the global financial crisis, 20 of the world’s industrialized and emerging economies called last month in Washington for an agreement to open up trade in farm commodities and industrial goods by year-end.
In Geneva, representatives of many of those same countries seemed to not have gotten the message.
The United States and emerging powers such as China and India continued to be at odds over an American demand for massive tariff cuts in the global chemicals sector. The U.S., meanwhile, has defended the hundreds of millions of dollars in cotton subsidies it hands out each year.
Brazil’s Amorim said the United States was blocking hopes of progress with excessive demands of poorer countries.
After Thursday criticizing U.S. President-elect Barack Obama for failing to show commitment to the trade round, Amorim softened his tone on Friday. “We are not in any kind of blame game here,” he said.
Allgeier said the U.S. was not to blame for the lack of progress, noting that Washington has supported many attempts to break the logjam in talks on agriculture with countries such as China and India that scuttled talks in July. He said New Delhi has not shown flexibility.
Allgeier, who was appointed deputy U.S. trade representative by President George W. Bush in 2001, added that he was “surprised” Amorim has pointed the finger at Obama even before the new American leader takes office.
“The fundamental interests of the U.S. economy don’t change radically,” Allgeier said. “I don’t understand why he should be seeking further guidance from the next U.S. administration.”
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