GENEVA — Ministers and top officials on Thursday tried to limit the damage in the Doha global trade talks that are stalled over farm-trade differences.
Rob Portman, U.S. trade representative, is to fly into Geneva today to assess the situation and show “the U.S. is committed to a successful outcome,” Peter Allgeier, U.S. ambassador to the World Trade Organization, told reporters.
The aim of the Doha talks, launched in Doha, Qatar, in November 2001, is to reach an accord by the end of next year to lower barriers to the international flow of goods — including textiles, apparel, footwear and services — worth almost $11 trillion a year.
Allgeier said the U.S. wants to see the talks deliver “new and real market access opportunities in both agriculture, goods and services.” He said the U.S. wants the top 12 to 15 developing economies, such as Brazil and India, to open their economies by lowering market barriers.
Peter Mandelson, European Union trade commissioner, conceded that the talks are bogged down and said there is a need for “a paradigm shift … one which allows us to move fast from standoff to trade-off.”