Progress Seen in WTO Meeting
Still some heated conflict between members in Geneva.
Compiled by staff
Published: Jul 29, 2008
World Trade Organization Director-General Pascal Lamy says there is now a very high level of convergence on many subjects in the Doha round of trade negotiations. During remarks Monday, Lamy said, there is a broad understanding that tariffs at or below 5% will be eliminated. And tariffs above 5% will be cut 50% or reduced to a certain figure. That is one of the points that has to be ironed out and Lamy is urging negotiators to accelerate movement towards compromises.
The U.S., China and India spent Monday arguing over cutting farm and industrial tariffs, a process that WTO spokesman Keith Rockwell said reached an intensity that bordered on a testy nature. U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab says she is concerned about the direction that a couple of countries are taking. Her comments reflected strong differences over U.S. demands for countries to agree to deep tariff cuts in at least some manufacturing sectors. China and India insist that developing countries be given a strong new tool to guard against agricultural import surges.
Meanwhile U.S. agriculture groups are waiting to get more details before commenting on the moves forward made during the meeting. U.S. market access will be a key factor in whether or not ag groups will support Schwab's decision to go along with Lamy's plan in which the United States would reduce the limit on trade-distorting farm subsidies from $48 billion to $14.5 billion in exchange for concessions in manufacturing tariffs.
"It would be difficult to get a good market access outcome, but it is still possible when you go through the tariff line negotiations," said American Farm Bureau Federation President Bob Stallman. "From Farm Bureau's standpoint, [the] Lamy paper has gone just about as far as we can go in agriculture."
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Tagged: farm, Farm Bureau, American Farm Bureau Federation
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