 Failure of trade talks a 'tragedy'
By Diao Ying (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-07-31 07:26 The collapse of the world trade talks is a "tragic failure" for the world economy in the face of global recession, Commerce Minister Chen Deming has said. Efforts to break the deadlock at the almost seven-year-old Doha round of WTO talks in Geneva failed on Tuesday when developed and developing countries could not agree on some major points. In a statement posted on the ministry's website yesterday, Chen said: "We, along with the other participating countries, feel very disappointed." Top trade officials of 35 countries deliberated for nine days at the extended talks for the third successive summer without a result. Chen attributed the collapse of the talks to the "inability" of certain countries to shift from their rigid positions. Trade sources said the dispute was between the US and India, both of which are facing general elections back home. The two countries could not agree on SSM (special safeguard mechanism), which allows developing countries to raise farm tariffs if their imports rise rapidly to protect the interests of their poor farmers. The US refused to talk about cotton subsidy, too, which is a major concern for poor cotton farmers in African countries. The talks collapsed because the US and the European Union were unwilling to reduce the huge subsidies they grant their farmers, Xinhua news agency said in a commentary. The cause of the failure is the excessive efforts the rich world makes to protect its own interests and the little attention it pays to those of the developing nations, it said. "This selfishness and short-sighted behavior has directly caused the failure of this WTO ministerial meeting, which will have a number of serious consequences." The commerce minister said: "China has shown its flexibility and constructiveness, and sincerely hopes to conclude a successful Doha round by working together with other members." It has made major compromises and concessions on issues such as OTDS (overall trade-distorting domestic support) reduction for developed members, sensitive products, SSM and ACC (anti-concentration clause), he said. Plus, it has expressed its willingness to further open up its markets in some key sectors. "But just as we were approaching the final point, some minor coefficients failed all our efforts." Chen said he did not want to blame any country for the failure of the talks. "They may have profound and complex domestic problems to deal with. Yet I cannot but express my deep regret." He urged WTO members to be fully prepared for the consequences. "The failure will have a major impact on the fragile multilateral trading system, especially because of the world economic downturn, serious inflation and imminent financial risks." WTO members should reflect upon the failure and try to improve the quality and efficiency of the future talks. And even though the talks have collapsed, China is ready to further intensify bilateral trade and economic cooperation with them, he said. Feng Jun, a Shanghai-based WTO expert, said the constant failure of the trade talks would have a long-term effect on the organization. It could make people doubt the effectiveness and authority of the WTO as a world trade body. Xinhua contributed to the story (China Daily 07/31/2008 page1) |
