Key players in the World Trade Organization (WTO) on Thursday showed no signs of compromise in the Doha Round of trade talks, making people doubt whether high-level negotiations in the next few days could lead to any breakthrough.

Some 60 trade and agricultural ministers are gathering in Geneva for four days of intensive negotiations, which aim to overcome major differences in agricultural and industrial commerce, the two key fields that have blocked the Doha Round from moving forward.

But the European Union, the United States and major developing countries led by Brazil and India, which are often mentioned as a "triangle," all refused to show flexibility in their positions, insisting that the other two parties should move first.

The EU is facing severe pressure from WTO members to cut its agricultural tariffs; the Unites States, for its part, is demanded to slash its high farm subsidies; while some 20 developing countries (G20) led by Brazil and India are pressed to improve their offer on market access of industrial products.

The EU needs real offers, specifically on domestic support from the United States, which is crucial, said EU Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel, ahead of full-member WTO discussions on Friday.

"We will be very cautious, because cosmetic offers are not enough," she told reporters.

Indian Trade Minister Kamal Nath also urged the United States to improve its offer on reducing domestic support for farmers, warning stubbornness by the United States threatens to derail nearly five years of efforts by WTO members to reach a global trade agreement that means to promote economic development.

"As leaders they should lead the development round," Nath said of both the United States and the EU.

The United States, however, indicated that it has already made enough concessions, and other parties should show flexibility.

In an article published Thursday in The Wall Street Journal, U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab said Washington would stick to a proposal made eight months ago, which offers a 53 percent cut of the maximum permitted ceiling for its farm subsidies.

"So far, our trading partners have not matched our ambition, but it is not too late," she said.

Schwab refused to talk to reporters directly on Thursday.

Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim expressed worry that differences among WTO members might have widened instead of narrowed compared with months ago.

"If anything, if I look backward, maybe to two or three months ago ... I have the impression that the gaps have widened, or at least become more rigid," he told reporters after a meeting of the G20 group of developing nations.

The Doha Round, launched in 2001 in the Qatari capital, aims to help poorer countries' economic development through fairer trade conditions.

But due to deep differences among WTO members, especially on agricultural and industrial trade, the talks have made little substantial progress.

Under a practical timetable set at last year's WTO ministerial conference in Hong Kong, the Doha Round of talks must be concluded by the end of this year.

But the prospect for a wide-ranging trade agreement looks dimmer and dimmer as differences among WTO's 149 members are still very deep.

WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy has warned that the Doha Round will face the danger of failure if key members cannot reach agreement on agricultural and industrial trade by the end of June, as enough time must be left for members to tackle other issues such as services, rules, trade facilitation, etc.

Success for the Doha round could give a strong boost to global economy and help alleviate poverty, while failure could lead to more protectionism and delay any further attempt at multilateral trade liberalization for years, analysts say.

All ministers and head of delegations attending negotiations in the next few days know the stakes of the process, but they need to make decisions, which to a large extent are political decisions.

Lamy has said that negotiations in the next few days would take place in various forms, including informal and formal full-member meetings as well as group talks.

The first formal full-member meeting is scheduled for Saturday, and which could be continued on subsequent days as necessary.

Source: Xinhua