There is growing pessimism about world trade talks. World Trade Organization (WTO) talks in Geneva over liberalising world trade have stalled. The big sticking point is agriculture - developing nations do not want to open up their agricultural markets - and the talks could break down. The WTO's Pascal Lamy will not call a planned meeting of world trade ministers in the foreseeable future if there is no hope of getting agreement on liberalised world trade. The US will become bogged down in the presidential election in late 2008 and a trade deal would have to be finalised well before then. The trade talks have also stalled over tariffs and subsidies for agricultural products. The following companies were referenced in the original articleAustralian Financial Review
