The Doha trade negotiations could collapse if no progress is made on agricultural market access rules soon. A vital deadline has already been missed with no sign yet of a breakthrough when the 146 members of the WTO ? the newest one being Macedonia ? failed to agree on the future shape of farm trade by the stipulated deadline of March 31, 2003. The battle lines have been drawn. The US wants to see agricultural export subsidies scrapped over a five-year period, and to cap tariffs at no more than 25%. Europe is ready to cut subsidies, but by nothing like as much as the US wants. Efforts to bridge the gap have so far failed; compromise proposals have been rejected by the US as being too weak, and by Europe as going too far. The divide over agriculture threatens to undermine Doha because the developing countries, which object most strongly to trade-distorting subsidies provided to farmers in the industrial world, were such reluctant participants in the first place. Many poor countries felt they got a raw deal from the earlier Uruguay Round and were not convinced that they had much to gain from a new round. They were persuaded to go along with Doha because the rich countries held out the prospect of significant concessions in several areas, including agriculture. On a separate issue, revamping the dispute settlement rules is also an item on the agenda for the current phase of trade negotiations. Currently the WTO cannot enforce its decrees; it can only grant complainants permission to retaliate by imposing their own tariffs on products imported from the unrepentant country. To help move the process along, leading business groups, headed by the Business Roundtable, will soon begin a multimillion dollar effort to stir up popular support for the WTO trade negotiations, hoping to ensure completion of the round as scheduled by the end of next year. The campaign, set to begin by early June, will include initiatives such as advertising and discussions with editorial boards to gain as much public awareness as possible of the benefits of a successful completion of the round. Some studies have shown that almost $3 trillion of wealth could be created if tariffs and barriers worldwide are eliminated.
 American Wire Producers Association |
