U.S. Wants to Restart Doha Trade Talks

At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab pressed for a renewal of the World Trade Organization’s Doha round of trade negotiations.

The U.S. would like to re-open the talks, which would allow the U.S. to increase exports from the strong service sector to developing countries. In return, these countries could export raw materials and food. However, the powerful U.S. agribusiness lobby has prevented the U.S. from reducing agricultural subsidies, thus putting the developing markets at a price disadvantage. As a result, the talks stalemated last year.

Representative Schwab’s renewed support of the Doha round is supported by President Bush, stated publicly during a recent visit with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The coming weeks will show whether the support is serious enough to tackle agri-business lobbies, and an increasingly protectionist sentiment in the U.S. Congress.

Source: World Economic Forum “Trade Round gets new impetus from Davos talks”; U.S. Trade Representative Office Web Site, "Schwab to Press for Doha Progress at World Economic Forum".