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WASHINGTON, May 1: US and European leaders have said they remain committed to completing the troubled Doha round of world trade talks, despite launching a new initiative to boost transatlantic trade.
“The first thing I told the group in the Cabinet room is that I am firmly dedicated to a successful Doha round,” US President George W. Bush told reporters after a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and European Commission President Jose-Manuel Barroso.
The three leaders spoke to reporters just a few hours after the chief mediator in the agricultural portion of the World Trade Organisation talks said the United States would have to offer at least another 14 per cent cut in farm subsidies to get a deal.
New Zealand's ambassador to the WTO, Crawford Falconer, the chairman of the farm trade talks, also said the EU would have to improve its offer to cut tariffs on farm goods.
The US and European Union leaders did not refer to Falconer's 28-page report, but Bush acknowledged the trade-off needed to reach a deal in the most stubborn area of the Doha round talks, which are now in their sixth year.
“We're committed to reducing our agricultural subsidies in order to advance the process. We expect others to follow suit in market access,” Bush said.
He also referred to the difficult political decisions world leaders have to make in agriculture, services and industrial goods -- the three core areas of the talks.
“I'm under no illusion as to how hard it will be to achieve the objective, but the first thing is, there must be a firm commitment by the leadership to get a deal,” Bush said.
“We told our trade ministers: Work hard, work often, work constructively. And I believe we can be successful,” he said.
BILATERAL TRADE: The uncertain outlook for the world trade talks has prompted both Washington and Brussels to try to expand trade through bilateral or regional free trade deals.
They have avoided beginning free trade talks with each other, partly because of the concern other countries would view that as a sign the world's two largest trading partners have lost interest in the Doha round.
US and EU leaders signed a framework on Monday for expanding trade by reducing regulatory barriers in areas such as agriculture, cosmetics, medicine and automobile safety while taking other steps to foster economic integration.
While that marks what many business groups hope will be the step toward creating a “barrier-free” transatlantic market, both Barroso and Merkel insisted the initiative posed no threat to the Doha Development Agenda, as the world trade talks are officially known.
“This is not at all against global trade talks. On the contrary .... we are urging for a completion of the Doha trade talks, not only because they are about trade but because they are about development,” Barroso said.
Merkel noted the world trade talks focused mainly on reducing tariffs, while the transatlantic economic integration initiative would focus on harmonising regulatory standards.
US Trade Representative Susan Schwab and EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson met separately on Sunday to discuss the Doha round and also participated in the meetings on Monday with Bush, Merkel and Barroso.—Reuters
