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Negotiators started their second week of bargaining on July 28 in a bid to salvage a global trade pact, but no deadline is in sight. "For this meeting now, we do not have a deadline," WTO spokesman Keith Rockwell said.
The finger-pointing and the blame game began at the meeting. Trade ministers briefly broke up their meeting, to meet once again. Without naming them the US accused India and China of unraveling the talks. India said it is the US that is digging in its heels. China said finger-pointing is dangerous for the talks.
US Trade representative Susan Schwab blamed large emerging nations, without naming them, for those blank spaces, drawing a sharp reaction from India's Commerce Minister.
Commerce Minister Kamal Nath said, "We are large, everybody knows that, we are emerging, everybody knows that, if that is the case so be it."
India, China and a large number of other developing countries have objections to the safeguards against import surges. An effective remedy will have to wait till imports surge by 40% by volume, a trigger they think is too high.
To lower cotton subsidies the US wants China to lower import duties. It wants the large developing countries to abolish import duties on automobiles, chemicals and textiles, while itself taking 10 years to lower high duties on items of interest to India and China, that is textiles and garments. Though there is agreement on many issues, unless some of these politically sensitive issues are settled, the talks could be back to where they were.
Nath said, "We have issues on NAMA, we are opposed to anti-concentration, we want to protect our auto sector. We have given nothing and got nothing because nothing is settled yet."
Chinese ambassador said the US should show its flexibilities instead of putting threats on developing countries to avoid a failure of the Doha Round trade negotiations.
"They have to remember that this is a Development Round. If they cover all their sensitivities for themselves, and keeping on putting threats on developing countries, I think we are going nowhere," said Sun Zhenyu responding to US accusations that the positions of China and other emerging economies like India "have thrown the entire Doha Round into the gravest jeopardy".
"We have tried very hard to contribute to the success of the Round. It is a little bit surprise that at this time the US started this finger-pointing," he said. (Source: Money Control, Xinhua, Trade Observatory)
July 29, 2008
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