Financial Times (London) / January 6, 2000, Thursday / By GUY JONQUIERES DE
The US yesterday called on the World Trade Organisation to press ahead soon with talks on liberalising agriculture and services, despite the failure of last month's WTO ministerial meeting in Seattle to launch a trade round.
August Schumacher, US under secretary of agriculture, said in Oxford any delay in the long-planned agriculture and services talks would "risk damaging the credibility of the entire international trading system."
WTO members committed themselves in the 1993 Uruguay Round agreement to begin the talks this year. But many trade diplomats think the debacle in Seattle and the forthcoming US presidential elections mean they will get off to a slow start.
Mr Schumacher was more optimistic, emphasising the opportunity for big economic gains offered by the agriculture negotiations and suggesting that the talks could still form the basis for an eventual world trade round.
He said much depended on the position of the European Union, which he blamed for the failure in Seattle by adopting an inflexible stance on agriculture, particularly by refusing to agree a timetable for eliminating export subsidies.
"On the issue of export subsidies, Europe is clearly isolated. The rest of the world disagrees with Europe on this issue," Mr Schumacher said, adding that the EU's position was not supported even by some of its own member states.
He said the US also had "huge differences" with the EU about the shape of a trade round, and that the prospects for launching one hinged on whether the EU was ready to narrow its proposed agenda.
Copyright 2000 The Financial Times Limited:
