EU (European Union) Blames the US (United States) 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.
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.
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.
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.
But US Trade Representative Susan Schwab argued that the US has been committed to the global trade talks and accused some wealthy and developing countries of failing to make ambitious contributions in the negotiations. Several organizations have voiced opposing opinions on the collapse of the Global Trade talks. While Charity Christian Aid said that the failure would seriously impact the poor countries of the world, the director of campaigns and policy at war John Hilary argued that it was for the good of the developing nations. The Doha Development Round of trade talks was launched in 2001 at the Qatari capital. The trade talks have been aimed at promoting global free trade deals. The WTO members have believed that commerce liberalization would not only improve the world economy, but it would also boost the economy of developing countries in order to help resolve their poverty.
