WASHINGTON, Oct 18: US President George W. Bush and European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso met at the White House on Tuesday but gave no sign of breaking a transatlantic deadlock on trade.

During a brief public appearance in the Oval Office, the two leaders each described their conversation as “frank” — often a diplomatic code word for disagreeing firmly — but said they agreed on the importance of freer trade.

“We talked about what it requires to get the Doha round moving forward. We had a good, frank discussion on that. And there’s no question we share the same objective,” said Bush.

The so-called Doha Round was launched in the Qatari capital in 2001 but has repeatedly stalled since then, primarily over disagreements on agricultural tariffs and subsidies.

“We have a common interest in opening up markets,” agreed Barroso, who said the two leaders had discussed the issue in “a very frank and friendly manner.”

“We very much, in the European Union, are looking forward for a success of those talks. We want it to have ambitious and balanced results on agriculture, but not only agriculture,” said Barroso.

The European leader said the trade talks ought to take up the service industry “so that our citizens can really see the benefits of a globalization” and that the United States and Europe had to work with poor countries as well.

The Doha Round aims to expand free trade in a way that benefits poor nations but the developing world is accusing developed nations of refusing to give up a trade system largely skewed in favour of the rich countries.

A European official with Barroso said the roughly hour-long discussion had focused on the trade relationship and blamed domestic political pressures on both sides for the absence of a breakthrough.—AFP