New US trade rep meets key Doha round players

NUSA DUA, Indonesia – US Trade Representative Ron Kirk held his first meetings with key players in global trade talks yesterday, amid mounting concerns over protectionist measures announced by the White House.

Kirk met World Trade Organisation (WTO) chief Pascal Lamy and recently appointed Indian trade minister Anand Sharma on the sidelines of a gathering of 19 major farm exporting countries on the Indonesian resort island of Bali.
The former Dallas mayor, who was appointed to the post by US President Barack Obama in March, also briefly met with members of the Chinese delegation.
Kirk made no comment to reporters after the meetings.
Sharma said the meeting was ‘positive’ and that both sides had reiterated their commitment to completing the WTO’s stalled Doha round of negotiations on a new global trade pact.
The Indian minister added he would go to Washington in mid-June for follow-up talks.
Brazil’s WTO ambassador Roberto Azevedo, who sat in on the Kirk-Sharma meeting, said it was important for Washington and New Delhi to send a clear ‘political signal’ that they are ready to iron out their differences.
‘We have two new players, Ron Kirk and Anand Sharma, so it’s good to have an opportunity to listen to them and what they bring to the table,’ Azevedo said.
‘There will certainly be more negotiations, but these meetings will tell us how our time will be best employed from this point on.’
Disagreements – primarily between India and the United States over tariffs – collapsed the last series of negotiations between WTO ministers in Geneva in July, plunging the fate of the broader Doha Round into uncertainty.
Developing countries – including Asian powerhouses China and India – want the industrialised world to scrap agricultural export subsidies, while Western powers are seeking greater access for their products in emerging markets.
The Cairns Group of farm exporters, which includes Australia, Brazil and Canada, is expected to call for a fresh start to the Doha Round and condemn rising signs of protectionism during its three-day meeting in Bali.
The group has condemned a new trade war between the United States and the European Union after Washington reintroduced export subsidies for its dairy industry last month in response to similar moves by Brussels.
Washington’s trading partners are also baulking at the ‘Buy American’ plan included in US economic stimulus legislation, which requires projects funded with stimulus money to use only US-made steel, iron and manufactured goods.
Indonesian Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said the global economic crisis was putting pressure on countries to protect their economies while at the same time underlining the need for greater trade liberalisation.
‘Leaders should show their commitment,’ she told reporters.
‘Everybody knows the United States and India are the most important players in terms of setting the tone and providing how far the (Doha) agreement can go.
‘The new administrations on both sides are providing a fresh perspective in how they see this global issue can be solved.’
Australian Trade Minister Simon Crean, who is chairing the Cairns Group meeting, said at the opening of talks Sunday that member states wanted to send the new US administration a strong message about the need for open markets.
The WTO talks, which started at the end of 2001 in the Qatari capital, aim to boost international commerce by removing trade barriers and subsidies.
The Cairns Group, which accounts for more than 25 per cent of world agricultural exports, advocates deep cuts to all tariffs and the total elimination of export subsidies.
The Cairns Group is comprised of Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Paraguay, Peru, the Philippines, South Africa, Thailand and Uruguay. -Nampa-AFP