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EU, US Top Trade Ministers Meet

Meeting last month in Davos, Switzerland, top trade ministers from over 20 countries decided to work in concert with one another in order to get the Doha Round back on track. To help in that process, top trade officials from the United States and European Union met this week to continue taking stake of the world trade talks.

EU Commissioner Peter Mandelson and U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman met in Washington, D.C. Tuesday and Wednesday to continue working on details. Mandelson says the talks were to help "maintain pressure if we're to meet the deadlines agreed in Hong Kong and by the U.S. trade calendar."

The next deadline is for agreements on modalities in agriculture and in industrial tariffs by April the 30th. "But these issues cannot be viewed in isolation," says Mandelson. "Agriculture, industrial tariffs are vital but we must remember that this Round is a single undertaking. Other issues like services and strengthening the WTO rule book need to catch up."

Mandelson reiterated that the EU has already laid out its proposals for change and won't dig deeper until other countries come forward with access in the industry and service sectors.

Portman says, "We are not in agreement yet as to what the agriculture final proposal ought to look like but we are I think beginning to close some of the gaps both in our understanding of each other's position and even in the substance of our positions."

Mandelson says it has made significant policy changes in its Common Agricultural Program and called on the U.S. to do the same. Portman adds that he hopes he can send a final agreement to Congress by the end of the year prior to the farm bill expiring to help inform member's decisions.

"As Commissioner Mandelson has rightly said, the farm bill coming up in 2007 will be an opportunity for us to look at reform," Portman says.