• by Gustavo Capdevila (geneva)
• Wednesday, May 13, 2009
• Inter Press Service

The new U.S. administration’s first appearance on the WTO scene demonstrated 'a willingness to engage in dialogue, and greater openness,' but in substance 'it did not show major differences with the past,' said one negotiator, commenting on U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk’s visit to this Swiss city.

Kirk, who was appointed in March by President Barack Obama, was circumspect during his three days of meetings with colleagues from some of the 153 WTO (World Trade Organisation) member states, which ended Wednesday.

He wanted to evaluate the situation, said the negotiator who spoke to IPS on condition of anonymity.

But despite his cautious approach, Kirk gave a glimpse of some new intentions on Washington’s part with respect to thorny questions being dealt with by the multilateral system, mainly in the Doha Round of talks, which have limped along since their launch in November 2001 in the capital of Qatar, for which they are named.

One of the main hurdles has been the disparity of interests between rich and poor countries, although the discussions were also delayed by the November presidential elections in the U.S. and the inauguration of the new Democratic leader.

Some observers say the fate of the Doha Round has also hinged on the outcome of the legislative elections in India, which should be in by the weekend.

'With any change in administration there is some requisite period of time to develop your strategy, both in terms of tone and substance and how you want to proceed,' said Kirk.

'President Obama and I are both committed to a successful conclusion to the Doha Development Round,' said the U.S. official. 'We see it not only as a critical component of what the president believes should be an overall, worldwide response to the current economic crisis, but it’s also critical to the sustenance of many of our least developed countries.'

However, the U.S. commitment has not yet translated into a schedule of activities that would ease the WTO Secretariat’s concerns about speeding up the completion of the Doha Round.

'We haven’t set a definitive timeline,' said Susan Schwab’s successor. 'We know everyone wants relief now, but we believe the substance of our talks will drive the process, which ultimately defines the timeline.'

Kirk also urged WTO members to be open to new approaches. '(W)hether it’s a bicycle or the bus or whatever vehicle we’ve all been loaded on to to try to get to Doha, (it) hasn’t gotten us there. If we need to look at a different delivery mechanism, let’s be open to do that.'

In his meetings with delegates from other member states, Kirk referred to an idea that has been buzzing around the WTO since the collapse of the talks became especially acute in late 2008.

The proposed new approach, which some delegates say was originally suggested by Canada, would consist of skipping the negotiation of an agreement on 'modalities' – broad guidelines for a deal that WTO member states have been trying hard to hammer out over the last seven years.

Modalities set outlines, such as formulas for tariff reductions and subsidies, especially in the areas of agriculture and industrial products, which are at the core of the Doha Round.

After bypassing modalities, the member states would go directly into negotiating lists of conditions, which include quantitative aspects of the trade deal, said the source, who took part in one of Kirk’s private meetings with a group of delegates.

In other words, the U.S. trade representative said, 'let’s not sacrifice the basic underlying principles, but make sure that we’re open to whatever it is that might drive us to a successful conclusion.'

As Kirk told the press Wednesday, 'We are not locked in to any particular process in terms of whether we stick with negotiating existing modalities or go to scheduling. We are suggesting that we have to be open to all possibilities.'

Under the suggested new approach, in some cases negotiations could be bilateral.

A number of delegations raised objections to this aspect in particular, as well as to the overall proposal to abandon the negotiation of modalities, the negotiator told IPS.

Like the administration of Obama’s Republican predecessor, George W. Bush (2001-2009), and the governments of other industrialised nations, Kirk called for emerging economies to make a bigger effort to open up their markets.

'(C)onsidering that we for the most part have opened our markets for some of the least developed countries, their next frontiers aren’t going to be in the United States, because they already have access. Where they can have an opportunity to have additional market access is places like India and China and Brazil and South Africa.

'So we think it’s important that those countries that are growing stronger be invited to the table to see if they can’t be helpful in perhaps finding ways that we can create additional opportunities for all of us so that this is a win/win/win solution for all of the countries involved,' said Kirk.

Referring to these observations, some delegates responded that the negotiations should lead to equitable and balanced results for everyone.

During his three days of meetings in Geneva, Kirk made no clear reference to conditioning free trade accords on compliance with basic labour and environmental standards, a cause generally dear to the hearts of Democrats.

The new U.S. trade representative basically expressed openness to dialogue, and took a frank approach, although he did not shed much light on the complex outlook for the talks, said the source.

It is clear that the Obama administration has not yet defined its positions, and that the trade representative 'came to test the waters,' he said. But he predicted that the U.S. government will have made some progress on that front by the end of the year.

Kirk did not comment on the possibility of calling a meeting of WTO member state ministers to jumpstart the Doha Round, as the media have hinted.

But the U.S. trade representative did support plans to hold the WTO’s ordinary ministerial conference this year, although he said the trade talks should not be on the agenda.

While the WTO is supposed to hold its official ministerial meeting every two years, the last one took place in December 2005 in Hong Kong, and none have been held since because of the stalled Doha Round talks and the failure to narrow the differences between rich, emerging, and poor nations.

© Inter Press Service (2009) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service