archives: WTO InfoU.S. Businesses Urge Bush to Signal 'Concessions' on Agriculture in WTO Talks
Despite its slightly deceptive title, this article also contains interesting information about US industry perspectives on the Singapore Issues.
Steven
Thursday, September 4, 2003
International Trade Daily
NewsWTO
U.S. Businesses Urge Bush to Signal 'Concessions' on Agriculture in WTO TalksNearly 350 U.S. companies and trade associations wrote President Bush Sept. 3 calling on the United States and other countries to signal a readiness to make "concessions" on the contentious issue of agriculture at the next ministerial meeting of the World Trade Organization, scheduled to be held in Cancun, Mexico, Sept. 10-14.
The coalition--known as USTrade--said that agriculture continues to be the "linchpin" to achieving progress in the WTO negotiations.
"The linchpin to achieving an ambitious outcome--in Cancun and at the end of the round--is clearly a fundamental commitment by all participants to substantial, harmonizing reform and market access in agriculture," USTrade said in a letter to Bush. "In Cancun, the United States and its trading partners must signal they are prepared to offer meaningful, trade-liberalizing concessions to advance each of the three pillars of the agricultural negotiations: export subsidies, domestic supports, and market access."
Progress in all other areas of the negotiations, the business coalition said, is likely to remain "lackluster" until further movement in agriculture is made, noting, for example, services where the stage has been set for an accelerated effort to negotiate major reductions in trade barriers--but only if the outstanding agriculture issues "can be resolved in Cancun."
USTrade, which describes itself as the "overarching pro-trade business coalition," comprises manufacturing, agricultural, and services organizations and companies including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, IBM Corp., Bechtel Corp., The Business Roundtable, Texaco Inc., PepsiCo Inc., and the National Foreign Trade Council.
William A. Reinsch, president of the NFTC, said that the principal objective of WTO members in Cancun should be to "renew the momentum for ambitious trade liberalization across all sectors...."
USTrade also said in its letter to President Bush Sept. 3 that the United States should press in Cancun for the "unbundling" of the four so-called Singapore issues--trade facilitation, transparency in government procurement, competition policy, and investment.
It said that agreements on trade facilitation, transparency in government procurement, dispute settlement, and overall transparency should be pursued "aggressively." But it said that negotiating new rules on investment in the WTO--"where an emerging consensus is less apparent"--should be limited to areas where "high-quality disciplines" are readily attainable.
The European Union and Japan--and, to a lesser extent, South Korea--have been urging that negotiations begin on all four Singapore issues as a package.
USTrade said that, more broadly, substantial progress in Cancun would help revitalize U.S. and international economic growth, foster broad-based global prosperity, and encourage sustainable, market-oriented development in developing and emerging economies.
"To accomplish these goals," it said, "the [WTO negotiations], at the end of the day, must substantially expand effective market access for trade in agriculture, industrial goods, and services."
It said that, in its view, a "deep, market-expanding agreement" can still be achieved by the deadline set for the talks of Dec. 31, 2004, despite a number of setbacks in the negotiations so far.
The talks began in January 2002.
A senior U.S. trade official, meanwhile, said that U.S. Trade Representative Robert B. Zoellick will hold a series of preparatory bilateral and other meetings in Cancun Sept. 8-9 with officials from a broad range of developing and industrialized WTO members in advance of the WTO ministerial meeting set for Cancun Sept. 10-14, including the European Union, Japan, and Canada.
The official, who asked not to be identified, said that the focus of the United States at the ministerial meeting will be on improved market access for agricultural and nonagricultural products, as well as services.
He said that the negotiations on services were "moving along quite well." But he said that the profile of the talks needed to be raised to the level of the nonagricultural negotiations.
Areas of Little Movement
Areas where the United States expects little movement in Cancun, the official said, include WTO rules, environmental protection, and so-called geographical indications, where the EU has been pressing to expand the list of patented products covered under WTO rules--an initiative strongly opposed by the United States.
"I wouldn't expect that [issue] to be resolved in Cancun," the U.S. official said.
In a related development, a representative of a leading U.S. nongovernmental organization--Lori Wallach, director of Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch--told reporters Sept. 3 that Mexico has put together a so-called enemies list of people whose activities should be monitored during the WTO meeting in Cancun.
Wallach, whose name appears on the list, said that she was unaware of any U.S. NGOs being banned from attending the meeting. However, she said that the fact that Mexico had issued the list did raise suspicions.
She said that an e-mail petition was being circulated and was attracting signatures from anti-globalization activists and others who wanted to be added to the list.
The petition has about 3,000 signatures so far, Wallach said.
She said that the people on the Mexican list were expected to be monitored. "I myself will be closely monitoring all traffic signs," she said.
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