Geneva WTO talks 'collapse' after China, India and US feud
WTO talks in Geneva fail after US, China and India argue
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Tuesday, 29, Jul 2008 06:21
World Trade Organisation (WTO) talks in Geneva have reportedly failed after the US, China and India argued over reforms to farming import rules.
Unnamed officials from two developed and one emerging nation are quoted by the Associated Press news agency as saying that the discussions had collapsed after nine days due to the dispute.
This represents a further blow to the WTO's aim of encouraging international trade and economic growth, with trade talks now having lasted some seven years without a concrete agreement being reached.
While developing nations such as China and India wish for greater exports of their agricultural produce in the US and the European Union (EU), a compromise has not been reached after the US accused the emerging nations of unfairly insisting on raising farm tariffs.
"We were so close to getting this done," US trade representative Susan Schwab told reporters after the talks stumbled.
"The US remains committed to the Doha round [of talks]. This is not a time to talk about a round collapsing.
"The US commitments remain on the table, awaiting reciprocal responses."
Brazilian foreign minister Celso Amorim had earlier described efforts to arrive at an agreement as "a jump in the dark" on Tuesday.
"You can't calculate until the very last situation all the hypotheses," he added.
"If you do that [the round] will never finish. It will take two years, three years. It will probably be for a new generation."