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The wording of a report intended to summarise last month's abortive trade talks on industrial goods has
upset the US, making any early resumption of the negotiations harder.
The new row, over the phrasing of discussions on proposals to open up individual industrial sectors,
shows that trading powers are already jockeying for position in any
new talks that are set up on the wreckage of last month's ministerial
meeting.
WTO mediators have issued reports summarising last month's negotiations and incorporating compromise
proposals on tariff and subsidy cuts floated by Lamy to a group of
seven major players, the G7, in an effort to reach a deal.
But the report issued by the outgoing chairman of the industrial goods negotiations, Canada's WTO
ambassador Don Stephenson, changes some of the wording from the Lamy
text.
In the sectoral talks, the US was pushing other countries, especially big emerging nations like China
and India, to slash or eliminate tariffs in sectors ranging from
bicycle parts to chemicals, beyond any general cuts agreed in
tariffs.
US business groups have made it clear that they will only support a deal -- crucial for getting it approved
by Congress -- if it includes sectoral deals, which is where they see
the greatest potential for US exporters to reach new markets.
China and India objected to a provision retained by Lamy in his compromise that encouraged developing
countries to take part in at least two sectorals by allowing them to
take smaller cuts in their other industrial tariffs.
China also objected to wording calling on countries to participate in sectoral negotiations "to achieve
critical mass" -- widely seen as code for Chinese participation,
given the importance of the Chinese market, one trade source said.
Stephenson's report drops the reference to critical mass, writing instead "with a view to making them
viable", a change necessary to get China and India to accept the
notion of a tariff credit for participation in sectorals, the source
said.
But those changes were not approved by all the G7 countries. In his report Stephenson said the text on
sectoral deals was the outcome of specific negotiations among G7
members. (Source: Reuters)
August 18, 2008
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