Freer trade viewed as economic remedy at WTO talks
Freer trade can help create jobs and support economic growth, and tariff-cutting accords should not be scaled back on account of the global downturn, senior U.S. and other officials said on Monday.
World Trade Organization Director-General Pascal Lamy told a WTO ministerial conference that completing the long-running Doha round would strengthen the global trading system that had helped countries come through the crisis.
But trade liberalization had to be backed by other domestic policies to absorb the shocks of increased competition, he told the opening session of the conference.
Launched eight years ago to open markets and help developing countries prosper through more trade, the Doha talks have been extremely tortuous. Political leaders have called for an accord in 2010, but a deal is not yet ready.
“The moment of truth is fast approaching when you will have to decide whether the 2010 target can be met,” Lamy told trade ministers from the WTO’s 153 members.
“Political leaders are practically unanimous that they want to meet it, but reaffirmation is not enough. Now we need action, concrete and practical action, to close the remaining gaps.”
U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk told Reuters that the ministers and senior officials gathered in Geneva needed to make sure trade can power continued growth and job creation.
“It’s an important opportunity for us to reaffirm the valuable role that liberalizing trade around the globe has in sustaining and promoting growth,” he said.
Many countries hold the United States responsible for the lack of progress in the Doha talks, as issues from healthcare to Afghanistan have higher priority in Washington.
But Kirk told the conference the United States was ready to move into the final stages of negotiations — provided agreement led to real new market opportunities in manufacturing and services as well as farming, the main focus of poor countries.
He repeated America’s call for big emerging countries like China and India to open their markets further to secure a deal.
Outgoing EU trade chief Catherine Ashton expressed concern that negotiations were not moving fast enough to reach agreement in 2010 and said the European Union was committed to a comprehensive deal in the months ahead.
LACK OF REGULATION
Criticism of the WTO and its free trade agenda has increased over the past year following global economic turmoil which many have attributed to a lack of oversight and regulation of financial services.
This week’s gathering falls on the 10th anniversary of a Seattle WTO ministerial meeting made famous by violent protests that contributed to the collapse of the conference.