SWITZERLAND: United States Trade Representative Susan Schwab meets with WTO chief Pascal Lamy in Geneva

Reaching a global trade deal is still a major priority for the U.S., United States Trade Representative Susan Schwab said in Geneva on Friday (January 12), where she came for talks with World Trade Organisation (WTO) chief Pascal Lamy. According to many trade officials, the Doha round, launched in 2001, to ease poverty and boost the global economy risks years of delay if not failure, if a deal cannot be struck in the coming months. The White House's authority to negotiate trade deals expires at the end June and Congress, which is now controlled by the Democratic Party, may not renew it. Failure could undermine confidence in the global trading system and trigger a surge of commercial disputes, particularly over agriculture which has long proved the most difficult issue in the WTO talks, trade analysts say. "Concluding the Doha Round continues to be a major priority for the United States, President Bush. There have been lots and lots of meeting going on at a ministerial level, sub-ministerial levels, technical levels....for the last three to four months, the time has been used well, we have a long way to go but there is a sense of momentum," Schwab said. The talks are taking place after WTO chief Pascal Lamy halted all negotiations six months ago because divisions were too deep to bridge, but he has acknowledged that recent talks had shown very positive signs toward a deal, as he was quoted by the Financial Times on Wednesday (January 10).

ITN Source | January 13, 2007

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