WASHINGTON, Sept 2: The United States expects a world trade ministerial meeting in India this week to be an “important step” in efforts to conclude the Doha free trade accord, President Barack Obama’s top trade envoy said yesterday, reports AFP.
The two-day informal talks beginning Thursday in New Delhi will be attended by World Trade Organization (WTO) Director General Pascal Lamy and ministers from rich and emerging nations with sharp differences on issues such as farm subsidies and tariffs on industrial products.
“I think this ministerial... can be a very important step for our goal for the successful completion of the Doha round of negotiations,” US Trade Representative Ron Kirk told reporters before leaving Tuesday for the meeting. “We all jointly share a common objective and belief that completion of the Doha round can be a key element to helping the world recover from this current economic crisis,” Kirk said.
He added that the talks provided a critical “window” between now and the WTO ministerial meeting later this year in Geneva, giving countries “the clarity needed to understand the opportunities for meaningful market access (and) allow Doha to come to successful conclusion.” The talks are also seen as critical as they come ahead of a meeting of leaders of the Group of 20 developed and emerging nations in the US city of Pittsburgh on September 24-25.
India’s new trade negotiator, Commerce Minister Anand Sharma, has said he wants a deal, but his ministry sought to manage expectations about the meeting’s outcome.
“This is not going to be a negotiating forum,” Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar, the top civil servant in India’s commerce ministry, told reporters last week. “We are looking for a commitment to re-engage on Doha.”
The Doha round of talks began in 2001 with the aim of boosting global commerce to help developing countries, but deadlock between the major trading blocs has dashed repeated attempts to forge a new pact.
The last push in July last year in Geneva ended in failure, but with new governments installed in Washington and the host nation India, there is renewed hope for another drive for success sometime next year. “I think what may make this different is that with the change in the administration—in the United States and in India certainly, in South Africa, in other countries—you have a new cast of countries with new leadership that have... desire to try to make this happen,” Kirk said.
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