India, US, Brazil, EU back on table to revive WTO talks
Efforts to push forward the Doha negotiations of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) have intensified with the US, India, the EU and Brazil preparing for another round of bilaterals beginning Friday.
By Amiti Sen & G Ganapathy Subramaniam, TNN |
NEW DELHI: Efforts to push forward the Doha negotiations of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) have intensified with the US, India, the EU and Brazil preparing for another round of bilaterals beginning Friday.
Commerce & industry minister Kamal Nath, who left for Geneva on Thursday night, is particularly keen on meeting his Brazilian counterpart Celso Amorim in order to reinforce the unity of the G-20 group of developing countries.
While the Indian minister will meet US trade representative Susan Schwab and Mr Amorim in Geneva, he is expected to stop over in London for a meeting with EU trade commissioner Peter Mandelson.
Speaking to ET, official sources said that the bilaterals, which will stretch till Monday, will take forward the discussions which the countries had in London last week.
The bilaterals caused some bitterness between India and the US following a US media report on Ms Schwab’s statement that India was a less pro-active contributor to the ongoing negotiations. Ms Schwab had reportedly stated that while the US was making progress in talks with EU and Brazil on the Doha round, India was unwilling to play a leadership role.
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Mr Kamal Nath not only wants to talk to Mr Amorim to discuss G-20’s future moves in the negotiations, but also wants to clear the air with Ms Schwab. The G-20 is a group of about 20 countries including Brazil, India, China, Argentina and Egypt jointly negotiating for a deal in agriculture.The Doha talks had broken down in July last year following the inability of key players including the US, the EU, India, Brazil and Australia to arrive at modalities for liberalising trade in agriculture and industrial goods.
The primary bone of contention was the US’ refusal to take on commitments in lowering overall trade distorting subsidies below the level of $22 billion initially offered by them. Actual subsidies paid by the US in 2006 was less than $11 billion. The G-20 group wants the US to commit to lowering subsidies to much lower levels.
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