WTO Talks Losing Momentum, U.S. Trade Representative Says
Regional-USA, Politics, 3/25/2006

United States Trade Representative (USTR) Rob Portman has expressed concern that hope for forward movement in World Trade Organization (WTO) talks is somewhat fading.

"Frankly, some of that energy is dissipating a little bit," he told an agribusiness group in Washington March 22.

This is happening, he explained, because other countries have not matched ambitious US proposals on trade-distorting subsidies and agricultural tariffs.

In October 2005, the United States submitted a proposal for drastically reducing agricultural tariffs and the most trade-distorting domestic supports. This initiative has achieved little; however; the European Union made a counterproposal that analyses showed would produce little or no additional market access.

Portman said the United States will continue to be aggressive "on all fronts" in the WTO negotiations, also known as the Doha Development Agenda or Doha round.

"But we don't think you can meet the Doha mandate without having ambitious resolve," he said.

In light of the April 30 deadline for establishing modalities -- ways to proceed to the next step, with broad outlines for final commitments -- the negotiations are at a "crucial time," Portman said.

He noted that the WTO negotiations have a history of missed deadlines. But he said he views April 30 as the "real" deadline because, without progress on the modalities, negotiators will not be able to meet another important target -- concluding the Doha round by the end of 2006.

The latter is crucial for the United States because the president's trade promotion authority (TPA) to negotiate trade agreements expires in July 2007.

Under TPA, previously known as fast track, Congress restricts itself to approve or reject a negotiated trade agreement within strict time limits and without amendments.

If negotiators miss the 2006 deadline, Portman said, it would be difficult to know when the Bush administration could implement any WTO agreement reached.

Portman said the administration intends to continue pursuing bilateral and regional free-trade agreements (FTAs) with its trading partners because deeper economic integration stemming from these agreements can bring great economic and political benefits.

In a March review of US trade policy, the WTO expressed concern that the increasing number of US FTAs might divert administrative resources away from the multilateral trading system and impede progress in the global negotiations.

In a March 22 briefing in Geneva, Deputy US Trade Representative Peter Allgeier said that FTAs complement multilateral efforts to bring down trade barriers rather than undercut US ability to participate fully in the multilateral negotiations.

The United States is selecting free-trade negotiating partners that have a "clear, consistent commitment to WTO-based trade liberalization," he said.

"There may be obstacles facing the Doha Development Agenda, but US free trade agreements are not among them," Allgeier said.

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