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Bush, Schwab to push Doha agenda at this week's APEC Summit in Australia

WASHINGTON, DC – 09/03/07 – Efforts to breathe life into the stalled Doha Round of international trade negotiations resume this week in Geneva, Switzerland, with the Bush Administration expressing guarded hope that the talks will result in a comprehensive trade deal.

In an interview over the weekend, US Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns said the White House is “guardedly optimistic” that an agreement will be reached despite “significant hurdles that need to be addressed” after six years of deep, often acrimonious, divisions on farm subsidies, tariffs, and a host of other issues.

President George Bush and US Trade Representative Susan Schwab are headed to the annual Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in Sydney, Australia this week.

According to White House sources, the president is expected to reiterate Washington’s position that the cuts in US farm subsidies demanded by the European Union, Brazil and others be matched by increased market access for US agricultural products.

In Sydney, leaders preparing for the Summit later this week have said that “all-round efforts” should be made to move the Doha Round process forward.

The 21-member APEC “holds that it is important for the World Trade Organization (WTO) to conclude the Doha Round negotiation early,” said David Spencer, Australia's ambassador to APEC.

Briefing reporters on the progress of the Summit’s Concluding Senior Officials Meeting, Spencer said the officials are working on the agenda for APEC's Ministerial Meeting slated for September 5-6 and the Economic Leaders Meeting scheduled to be held here next weekend.

The APEC is comprised of Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, the US, and Vietnam.

Last week, France’s Economic Minister, Christine Laguard, stated that the Doha Round negotiations may well collapse again as major differences in positions on so many issues “would preclude an agreement in the near future.”

American farmers have said they will oppose any agreement that doesn’t include a net increase in trade, and, said one trade official, “it’s been difficult to sell a deal to industries at home "when you have no idea what the parameters are."

If a deal proves impossible, Johanns said, the world's poorest countries will lose out – unable to negotiate a score of bilateral trade deals on their own – and the world could backslide toward protectionism.

"I worry about the possibility that the world takes a step back in terms of opening markets, reform in many key areas, and all of that kind of goes on the back burner," he said.

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Obama Should Complete Doha Round, CEOs Say

NEW YORK – 11/20/08 – A number of senior level corporate executives are urging the incoming Obama Administration to complete the long-stalled Doha Round of international trade talks in a new report published by the Wall Street Journal; responding to the report, New York Democrat Sen. Charles Schumer said that the Obama Administration and ''Democrats in general think we should trade in the global world,'' but concerns about ''income inequality'' should make business and government ''work together to cushion the blow.''