EU, U.S. tell each other to move first in trade talks

Officials from the European Union and the United States on Thursday demanded the other side to make concessions first to help revive the world trade negotiations.

The EU's ambassador to the World Trade Organization (WTO) Carlo Trojan told a global trade meeting in Cairns that Washington must make further offer to reduce farm subsidies and "that is a precondition for unlocking the deadlock" in WTO's Doha Round.

The three-day meeting, attended by officials from the 18 members of Cairns Group, an advocate of liberalization, plus representatives from the United States, the EU, Japan and the WTO, has been focusing on how to revive the Doha Round which was suspended last July.

Neither the United States nor the EU would back down on market access and farm subsidies during the Doha Round.

Calling for efforts to bring Doha Round back to life, Trojan said "the prospect of a major breakthrough in agricultural trade reform was within reach and yet we seem to be at pains to figure out how to restart the negotiations."

"We all have some to realize that we have a lot to lose if we fail. We all realize that the window of opportunity is a small one, " he said.

He said EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson will visit Washington on Sept. 26 for talks with U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab, Congressional leaders and farmers.

In a joint press conference here Thursday, Schwab and U.S. Agricultural Secretary Mike Johanns said Washington already announced a bold farm reform package in October last year and the EU, as a heavy subsidizer, should now follow.

Both Schwab and Johanns encouraged all "open-minded nations" to make new trade proposals to help break the deadlock, or simply keep the talks going.

Johanns criticized the EU for lecturing others, saying "they're very good at telling everybody else what they need to do but what we really need them to do is to step up to the level of ambition that is called for in this round and open their markets and cut their subsidies."

The possibility of a breakthrough in the on-going expanded Cairns Group ministerial meeting is considered low as no serious negotiations are expected until after the U.S. Congressional elections in November.

Source: Xinhua