Doha talks need boost from 'fast-track' extension: US
Thursday, 28 June 2007
WASHINGTON, June 27 (AFP): The sputtering Doha round of global trade talks would get a boost from an extension of the special negotiating authority for the president, the US trade chief said yesterday.
US Trade Representative Susan Schwab said the United States "most assuredly has not given up on the Doha round," despite the collapse last week of talks by the Group of Four (G4)-the US, European Union, India and Brazil-meant to get the round of World Trade Organisation (WTO) talks back on track.
Schwab, speaking at the launch of a bipartisan congressional caucus to promote the US services sector, said she was "sad" about the breakdown in the WTO talks Thursday in Potsdam, Germany.
"We really had a shot at it this time," she told reporters after the news conference, adding she had been "optimistic that we were going to get a breakthrough."
Asked about the looming expiration Saturday of President George W Bush's trade promotion authority (TPA) to "fast-track" trade negotiations without congressional intervention, Schwab said, "It would be easier with TPA. It is more practical if trade promotion authority exists."
Under TPA, the Republican administration can negotiate trade agreements which only can be approved or rejected by Congress, but not amended.
Its extension has been cast in doubt since the Democrats took control of Congress in January.
Schwab said there were "multiple avenues" the US was pursuing on trade. "We need to keep pushing for the Doha outcome."
Developed countries should be willing to contribute more in the Doha round, as should the fastest-growing countries, such as India, China and Brazil: "These folks need to do their fair share as well."
The trade chief pointed to a new proposal from developing countries in Asia and Latin America on non-agricultural market access, saying the sponsors show "far more ambition, apparently, than their colleagues in the G4."
On the bilateral front, Schwab said the administration was "optimistic" about concluding a free-trade deal with South Korea. The pact was expected to be signed by Saturday.
"We're not done yet," she said of the trade agreement, which if approved by Congress, would be the biggest for the US since the 1992 North America Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico.
The Republican administration and the bipartisan leadership in Congress agreed in May to set labour and environmental standards in trade pacts, forcing the renegotiation of the pact reached with South Korea in May to include the necessary amendments. The new standards also affected three other bilateral pacts, with Peru, Panama and Colombia.
On Monday the trade office said that Peru and the US had agreed a free-trade pact that incorporated the amendments.
US Trade Representative Susan Schwab said the United States "most assuredly has not given up on the Doha round," despite the collapse last week of talks by the Group of Four (G4)-the US, European Union, India and Brazil-meant to get the round of World Trade Organisation (WTO) talks back on track.
Schwab, speaking at the launch of a bipartisan congressional caucus to promote the US services sector, said she was "sad" about the breakdown in the WTO talks Thursday in Potsdam, Germany.
"We really had a shot at it this time," she told reporters after the news conference, adding she had been "optimistic that we were going to get a breakthrough."
Asked about the looming expiration Saturday of President George W Bush's trade promotion authority (TPA) to "fast-track" trade negotiations without congressional intervention, Schwab said, "It would be easier with TPA. It is more practical if trade promotion authority exists."
Under TPA, the Republican administration can negotiate trade agreements which only can be approved or rejected by Congress, but not amended.
Its extension has been cast in doubt since the Democrats took control of Congress in January.
Schwab said there were "multiple avenues" the US was pursuing on trade. "We need to keep pushing for the Doha outcome."
Developed countries should be willing to contribute more in the Doha round, as should the fastest-growing countries, such as India, China and Brazil: "These folks need to do their fair share as well."
The trade chief pointed to a new proposal from developing countries in Asia and Latin America on non-agricultural market access, saying the sponsors show "far more ambition, apparently, than their colleagues in the G4."
On the bilateral front, Schwab said the administration was "optimistic" about concluding a free-trade deal with South Korea. The pact was expected to be signed by Saturday.
"We're not done yet," she said of the trade agreement, which if approved by Congress, would be the biggest for the US since the 1992 North America Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico.
The Republican administration and the bipartisan leadership in Congress agreed in May to set labour and environmental standards in trade pacts, forcing the renegotiation of the pact reached with South Korea in May to include the necessary amendments. The new standards also affected three other bilateral pacts, with Peru, Panama and Colombia.
On Monday the trade office said that Peru and the US had agreed a free-trade pact that incorporated the amendments.