President Bush Meets Portman to Discuss WTO Trade Talks Ahead of April 30 Deadline

President Bush met with U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman April 10 to discuss the World Trade Organization negotiations just three weeks ahead of a key deadline in the talks, saying that he had done so 'because I'm a big believer that trade helps lift people out of poverty.'

'My position is clear: I'm absolutely for this United States of America staying engaged to the world,' Bush said. 'If we put up walls and aren't willing to have free and fair trade, it will hurt the world economy, and it will cause people to suffer here at home and abroad.'

U.S. officials said that Portman is expected to travel to Geneva at the end of this month to meet with ministers from 30 or so other WTO member countries, in an effort to reach agreement by the previously set deadline of April 30 on the broad outlines--or modalities--of a deal on agricultural and nonagricultural market access.

But some WTO ministers, including Indonesian Trade Minister Mari Pangestu, who chairs the so-called G-33 group of WTO developing countries, have begun to speak publicly about the likelihood of missing the end-of-April deadline, and other observers have said that the end-of-2006 deadline for completing the talks also appears to be in jeopardy--in part because of continuing differences between the United States and the European Union over agriculture.

Yet Bush, in remarks to students at Johns Hopkins University, said that the United States remains committed to free and fair trade, adding that this is a 'defining moment' in the domestic debate over the issue.

'I know it's difficult,' Bush said. 'I know it's hard if you're living in the Midwest and you lost your job, and somebody tells you you lost your job because of free trade. It's difficult for people. I know that.'

But he said that the United States should not fear competition. 'Competition is good,' he said. 'Look at the 1920s in our country's history. We shut down immigration. We had huge trade tariffs and we were isolationist. And it didn't serve our country well, in my judgment.'

Little Incentive for EU

European Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson, meanwhile, said April 10 that the EU has 'precious little incentive' in the WTO talks to move from its position on agriculture, which has been criticized by the United States and other WTO members as being too restrictive.

Mandelson told reporters after briefing EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg that other WTO members have not matched the EU's willingness to 'come forward and explore further flexibilities and overtures on the basis of the current offers' in the negotiations.

The demands of others, he said, remain 'too high, while their offers remain too low,' leaving the EU with 'precious little incentive' to make any further move in the talks.

Mandelson said that all main parties to the talks--alluding to the United States and advanced developing countries such as India and Brazil--'should be prepared to offer more to get more and to create a bigger deal for the overall economy, with developing countries as the main beneficiaries.'

'This is one of the main messages given to me today by the EU member states,' the commissioner said.

Excerpts of Mandelson's remarks to reporters were released by an EU spokesman.

Mandelson also used the occasion to criticize members of Congress who, he said, have questioned continuing U.S. confidence in the WTO talks, calling such interventions 'unwelcome and untimely.'

In remarks at the American Enterprise Institute April 3, Rep. Bill Thomas (R-Calif.), chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, said that the United States needs to shift its focus away from the WTO negotiations toward bilateral and regional trade agreements that can deliver more immediate benefits to the U.S. and global economy (64 DER A-16, 04/4/06 a0b2p6k6g3 ).

'We should soldier on [in the WTO talks] and try to do the best we can,' Thomas said. 'But that should not be, in my opinion, where the United States puts its major resources