Is Doha at Death's Doorstep?
Provided by Jeff Levin - Schmeltzer, Aptaker & Shepard
In a presentation yesterday to a Washington, DC think tank, House Ways and Means Chairman Bill Thomas (R-CA) all but pronounced dead a “significant” conclusion to the Doha Round of multilateral negotiations under the World Trade Organization (WTO). Chairman Thomas’ remarks came on the heels of an unproductive meeting last week in Brazil between U.S. Trade Representative Bob Portman and his European Union and Brazilian counterparts, and just a few weeks ahead of an April 30 deadline for negotiators to set a final structure for marketing opening measures in the context of the multilateral talks. Chairman Thomas said that there were “irreconcilable differences” between the U.S. and the EU in the Doha Round negotiations, particularly with respect to the highly-sensitive issue of agricultural subsidies. This issue has long been seen as the linchpin for a successful Doha Round.
Chairman Thomas’ counterpart in the Senate, Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA), likewise sounded a pessimistic note on the prospects for a successful conclusion of the Doha Round. Neither Chairman advocated that the U.S. simply walk away from the negotiations at this point. However, Rep. Thomas argued that the energies of U.S. negotiators should be redirected towards completing the recently-initiated bilateral free trade agreement negotiations with Korea and Malaysia, and to successful conclusion of talks with Ecuador, before the expiration of the President’s “trade promotion authority” in mid-2007.
On a related note, Chairman Thomas also stated that he is considering possible legislation that would eliminate most U.S. duty preference programs – most notably GSP, the African Growth and Opportunity Act, the Caribbean Basin Initiative and the Andean Trade Preferences Act – for all but “least developed countries” or LDC’s. Under this proposal, LDC’s could only retain their duty-free status if they meet certain U.S. standards in the areas of sanitary/phytosanitary requirements and protection of intellectual property rights.
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