Advertisement

Bilateral trade pacts burgeon as WTO lags

By SHIHOKO GOTO, UPI Senior Business Correspondent

WASHINGTON, Nov. 14 (UPI) -- The deadline to improve the World Trade Organization's dispute settlement mechanism looms in May 2003, to be followed by another round of trade talks in Mexico soon after, but there is mounting concern that efforts to liberalize global trade are stalling -- even as bilateral trade pacts among industrialized nations make steady progress.

"Things are not advancing as well would like them to," Rubens Barbosa, Brazil's ambassador to the United States, said Thursday at a trade briefing hosted by the National Foreign Trade Council.

Advertisement

Last November, world trade ministers gathered in Doha, Qatar, to discuss improved market access and arbitration mechanisms for member countries. Those talks set the stage for the meeting in Cancun next year.

Trade officials have since met regularly to negotiate how to achieve the objectives outlined at the Doha round, and 25 trade ministers will be in Sydney until later Friday, planning for the full ministerial meeting in Mexico.

But there is growing concern that the multilateral framework won't achieve its goals, given developing countries' frustration over agricultural and other subsidies by industrialized nations.

As a result, many members -- disappointed by slow progress on the international front -- are turning to bilateral trade deals and bypassing the WTO. Their complaints are many.

Advertisement

"I frankly think there is a bias against the United States and its trade laws within the WTO dispute settlement system," said Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont. He said that the trade group "requires dispute settlement panels to defer to national authorities," with "improperly narrowed" standards.

Meanwhile, emerging market governments resent industrialized nations' hefty farm subsidies.

"I will not go on here about how agricultural subsidies are taking away opportunities for developing countries," Barbosa said. He said that American, European, and Japanese efforts to support their farmers were denying opportunities for emerging markets to play on a level playing field.

At present, the money provided by the industrialized nations for farm subsidies far exceed that spent on development assistance. Agriculture is one of the few sectors most developing nations could really be competitive in globally.

These complaints have provided the impetus for many countries to seek their own government-to-government deals.

Singapore, for instance, has pushed for bilateral trade pacts with the United States and Japan, while Australia has pursued a free-trade pact with the United States.

For the past few years, Canberra has pressed for a deal with the United States that could boost the Australian economy by $2 billion each year. While the Bush administration was reluctant in the past to support such moves, the looming U.S. action against Iraq may have increased its incentive to do more for its traditional allies.

Advertisement

And earlier this month, France and Germany reached an agreement on European farm subsidies. Germany agreed to halt demands for an immediate reform of the E.U.'s agricultural subsidy policy, while France agreed to cap subsidy levels starting in 2007.

Latest Headlines

Advertisement

Trending Stories

Advertisement

Follow Us

Advertisement