U.S. Works To Advance Doha Trade Round, Official Tells Africans

2005-11-30 From Washington

Washington -- There is no disagreement between African nations and the United States on the need to end trade policies that hinder economic growth in less-developed countries, says William Jackson, director for African affairs in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR).

Speaking at an African Union (AU) ministerial meeting on World Trade Organization (WTO) issues held in Arusha, Tanzania, November 23, Jackson said of Africa, "Perhaps no other region of the world has more to gain from a successful Doha outcome, or more to lose if the round fails to produce an ambitious result."

Launched in 2001 and formally called the Doha Development Agenda, the WTO talks have stalled repeatedly over politically difficult agriculture issues. The next round of formal talks is scheduled for mid-December in Hong Kong.

At Arusha, Jackson said it was in the interest of all WTO members -- European, American and developing world -- "to help break the current impasse in the agricultural negotiations," according to a copy of his speech provided by USTR.

He added: "African leaders have indicated that they want to harness the power of trade to accelerate economic development and reduce poverty. The Doha Development Agenda presents the best opportunity to do that, by opening up global trade and helping Africa to reap the benefits of free markets."

Jackson warned that failure to make progress in Hong Kong would be a "major setback" to the shared objectives of opening global markets, boosting to the world economy and extending the benefits of trade to poor countries.

The United States stands willing to work with the African Union and other African groups to achieve these objectives, he said.

U.S. TRADE PROPOSALS

The United States has put "bold and detailed proposals on the table that would slash tariffs, subsidies and other barriers to trade in farm and manufactured products in the near term while keeping the focus on the ultimate elimination of all such barriers to trade," Jackson said.

The agriculture negotiations have made progress on export competition and domestic support but not on the issue of market access, he said.

As for export competition and domestic support of agriculture, he pointed out: "The U.S. has [presented] the only proposal that foresees the elimination of both export subsidies -- by 2010 -- and trade-distorting farm support. The U.S. agriculture proposal would require some difficult changes for many American farmers. The U.S. agricultural community is willing to undertake this difficult transition, but only if others match our effort."

In the critical area of cotton production, Jackson said the United States "appreciates the importance of cotton to many African countries and is committed to working with the Africa Group and the West African 'Cotton-4' countries to find a means in the Doha negotiations and beyond to address the challenges that African cotton producers face."

USTR Rob Portman traveled to Burkina Faso November 9 specifically to focus on this issue, and U.S. negotiators continue to explore concrete ways to address cotton within the agriculture negotiations. (See related article .)

Ultimately, said Jackson, "the prospects for an ambitious Doha result on cotton are directly linked to the prospects for an ambitious overall package on agriculture."

The official said the United States has "closely followed the Africa Group?ˉs statements, including its recent letter to WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy, indicating your concerns that the development promise of Doha has not yet been realized."