EU blames US for Doha deadlock
19 April, 2006
Alan Beattie
In a speech in Finland on Friday, Mr Mandelson says that World Trade Organisation member countries must make realistic demands and offers of cuts in tariffs and subsidies. 'At this point in the talks I am looking first to the US for more of this,' he will say, according to an advance copy of his speech.
While the EU has begun to reform its farm subsidy schemes, Mr Mandelson says, 'the US has yet to cut a single dollar or dime from its escalating farm spending'.
The talks, which started in 2001, received another jolt this week when Rob Portman, US trade representative (USTR), was moved to the White House and succeeded by his deputy, Susan Schwab.
Though Friday's speech does not mention the personnel change, Mr. Mandelson made it clear that he thought the timing of the move was unhelpful.
Some officials said the EU was trying to shift responsibility for slow progress to the US, having been on the back foot for much of the negotiations.
'The blame game seems to have started already,' said one Geneva-based diplomat.
A USTR spokesperson said: 'The seamless transition at USTR does not change the need for others to match the offer the US has made,' and said the onus remained on the EU to cut its high tariffs.
The EU has been targeted by the US, Brazil and other agricultural exporters who want farm tariffs lowered, with higher tariffs subject to bigger cuts.
The Group of 20 developing countries has asked for average cuts of 54 per cent in farm tariffs and the US has demanded 75 per cent, but the EU has refused, saying such deep cuts are unacceptable both to the EU and to many developing countries that want to protect their farmers.
Ambassadors to the WTO will decide on Thursday whether the talks will meet a deadline of April 30 to agree percentage cuts in tariffs and subsidies.
Most think it extremely unlikely. Peter Balas, deputy director-general in Mr Mandelson's trade department, recently told a European parliament committee that the end-April date was doomed.
He added: 'The real deadline is the end of July.'
If they agree the end-April deadline is impossible, ambassadors will debate whether a planned meeting of ministers in Geneva next week should be cancelled or postponed.
Mr Mandelson said a ministerial would make sense only when agreement was imminent. 'We are not fixated on the dates for a meeting, but we do want a result,' he said.
Talks on farm trade at the WTO this week have so far focused on peripheral issues such as the agricultural marketing boards used by countries like Canada and Australia, regarded by some other countries as distorting trade. Similarly, talks on industrial goods trade, though not as contentious as the farm talks, appear some way from resolution, officials said.
(Additional reporting by Raphael Minder)