Dutch trade minister Frank Heemskerk blames U.S. for failure in WTO trade talks

Dutch minister blames U.S. for failure in WTO trade talks

www.chinaview.cn 2008-07-30 18:15:47

BRUSSELS, July 30 (Xinhua) --

Dutch Minister for Foreign Trade Frank Heemskerk said U.S. reluctance to make concessions was partly to blame for the collapse of the world trade Doha Round talks.

He said on Tuesday evening that it was difficult to pinpoint exactly why the talks broke down, but he felt that the United States became increasingly less willing to make further concessions in the last few days.

He said that Washington could have done more in the area of cotton production.

The World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations broke down Tuesday after nine days of tough talks in Geneva. Grave differences remain between the United States and India on measures to protect farmers in poorer countries against increasing imports.

The collapse of talks on further liberalization of world trade is "a great pity," said Heemskerk, who represented the Netherlandsat the WTO meeting in Geneva.

"An agreement could have led to much profit. Not only for the poorest countries, but also for businesses and consumers in the Netherlands because free trade leads to lower prices and thus more spending power," Heemskerk was quoted as saying.

The so-called Doha Round of trade talks started in 2001 with the aim of reducing global poverty by giving poor countries more access to world markets.

WTO trade talks failure increases world economic uncertainties

www.chinaview.cn 2008-07-30 16:04:57

GENEVA, July 29 (Xinhua) --

The failure of WTO ministers on Tuesday to make a breakthrough in the long-stalled Doha Round global trade negotiations adds to world economic uncertainties.

After nine days of intensive negotiations, trade ministers from35 major WTO members failed to narrow their differences on agriculture trade and industrial market access, the two key and harshly disputed areas of the Doha Round.

This is obviously another serious setback for the world economy, which is already facing the so-called "3F" crises, namely financial, food and fuel crises, analysts say.

At the beginning of the negotiations on July 21, trade ministers and WTO chief Pascal Lamy all highlighted the significance and urgency for a Doha Round breakthrough, which they said could give a necessary boost to the downturn world economy.

According to Lamy's estimate, a Doha Round trade deal could inject between 50 billion and 100 billion U.S. dollars each year to the world economy and enormously benefit poor countries.

That will be primarily in the form of tariff and subsidy cuts and substantial trade flows.

"This is a very painful failure and a real setback for the global economy when we really needed some good news," said Peter Mandelson, the European Union's trade commissioner, following the breakup of ministerial negotiations on Tuesday.

Mandelson's disappointment was shared by top negotiators from Brazil, India and China, who have in the past nine days strived for a breakthrough of the Doha Round, which was launched in 2001 in the Qatari capital.

Tuesday's failure could mean that WTO members would not have enough time to conclude the trade talks within this year, a latest target they set collectively after repeated setbacks in the past seven years.

The Doha Round could even be put aside for several years due to elections and government changes in the United States, India and Brazil, analysts say.

"We will need to let the dust settle. It is probably difficult to look too far into the future at this point," WTO chief Pascal Lamy said on Tuesday of the fate of the Doha Round.

"WTO members will need to have a sober look at if and how they bring the pieces back together," Lamy told a press conference following the collapse of talks on Tuesday.

Chen Deming, the Chinese minister of commerce, on Tuesday urged WTO members to "get fully prepared for the consequences" of the failure.

"Particularly in face of world economic downturn, serious inflation and imminent financial risks, the failure will have a major impact on the fragile multilateral trading system," Chen said.

WTO chief Pascal Lamy had already warned many times that failure of the Doha Round could give further rise to trade protectionism and the increase of trade disputes.

"This is certainly not going to strengthen the multilateral trading system; it will not improve the system which has provided all its members an insurance policy against protectionism over the last 60 years," Lamy said.

"But I hope the system is resilient and will be able to resist the bumpy road ahead of us," he added.

The failure of WTO trade talks could also have impact on the confidence and ability of the international community to deal with other global challenges such as climate change, analysts say.

"If we cannot even manage trade, how should we then find ourselves in a position to manage the new challenges lying ahead of us," the European Union's agriculture commissioner Mariann Fischer-Boel told reporters in Geneva.

Her view was shared by Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim and Australian Trade Minister Simon Crean, who doubted that countries could reach any agreement at the UN climate change conference in Denmark next year.

Editor: Sun Yunlong

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