WASHINGTON, March 23: A plan to grant trade breaks to destitute nations has carved deep divisions among US and foreign industries and created strange bedfellows as textile and sugar producers line up with poor African countries in urging US trade officials to limit trade preferences.

Documents released by the US Trade Representative office this week pointed to stark differences in how far various industry and advocacy groups believe the US should go in granting preferences to least-developed countries.

The comments contained in the documents build on a 2005 resolution in the talks, hailed as a landmark when rich nations agreed to end import duties and quotas for least-developed nations for at least 97 per cent of tariff lines.

The so-called duty-free, quota-free access reflected the genesis of the round, which was launched in 2001 as a way to fight poverty with trade.

It is hoped a new world trade deal will give a special boost to world's least-developed nations, which had a paltry 0.7 per cent share of world merchandise exports in 2004. But the resolution did not go far enough for some.

A decision from Washington to exclude even 3 per cent of tariff lines from the preferences “would go against the spirit” of the WTO resolution, the Centre for Policy Dialogue, a Bangladeshi thinktank, said in a comment letter to USTR on the issue.

“Theoretically, the exclusion list could include almost all exports from (least-developed countries) LDCs,” it added.

Officials in Washington have been guarded on whether they would support expanding that access, as some are advocating, to 100 per cent of tariff lines.

One former negotiator said that providing full access for “textiles and sugar would be really tough unless other countries open up for our exports.” The current duty reduction plan will not become reality unless an overall Doha deal, including not only the contentious farm sector but manufacturing and services, is concluded.—Reuters