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All Sides Urged to Break Trade Deadlock

Trade talks will fail unless the United States makes more cuts to subsidies, the European Union opens its markets and developing countries reduce protectionism, says World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz.

In an article Wolfowitz wrote for Britain's Financial Times newspaper, he warns that "unless serious concessions are made by all sides•the Doha round of trade talks will fail and the people who will suffer the most are the world's poor."

Time is dwindling for ministers of the 148 members of the World Trade Organization to reach a broad framework prior to a mid-December Hong Kong ministerial meeting. If a broad deal isn't laid out by this week, failure awaits the Doha round when ministers arrive in Hong Kong.

WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy says the United States and European Union were "still too far apart on one issue, which is market access, to allow negotiations to progress." The European Union is expected to bring a proposal to the table this week. U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman told reporters last week he hopes the EU brings a proposal that has the same ambition as the U.S. proposal.