EU Blames the US for Collapse of Global Trade Talks
The members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) recently held a series of meetings in Geneva in a final attempt to revive the Doha round of talks and to reach a global trade deal. However, the WTO nations have failed for the nth time due to irreconcilable trade differences among the key players of the negotiations. Initially, the WTO was expected to come up with the outline of a free trade deal this July. Then, the final agreement was scheduled to be signed by the members before the end of 2006. But it seems the global trade bloc will not see any accomplishment this year due to unsettled disputes concerning agricultural subsidies and import tariffs.
Considering the status of the trade talks, the WTO members decided to cancel the negotiations this year. WTO Chief Pascal Lamy said that no global trade agreement will be reached before the end of 2006. This would leave more pressure to the international trade organization considering the relevance of time in the talks. The members had been hoping to arrive at a consensus this year before the special negotiating authority of US President George W. Bush expires in 2007.
After the global trade talks had collapsed, the European Union Trade Chief Peter Mandelson accused the United States for causing the latest of a series of delays. Mr. Mandelson said that the conditions set by the US in reducing its farm subsidies were not acceptable by the WTO members. But the US argued that it was committed to the negotiations. Instead, it blamed the EU for not offering sufficient concessions in cutting its tariffs on agricultural products.
Mr. Lamy urged the members of the global trade bloc to cooperate more in order to settle the disagreements and push the trade talks forward. At the same time, EU Trade Chief Peter Mandelson expressed his disappointment over the failure of the talks and blamed the US for not being flexible. During the discussions, the US demanded that for each dollar scrapped from its farm subsidies, it should be given a dollar’s worth of access in the markets of developing nations. According to Mr. Mandelson, the EU and the developing countries found the condition unacceptable.
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