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| US says new EU trade offer does not go far enough |
| 2005-10-29 |
| The EU on Friday (28 October) put forward it's "bottom line" offer to increase market access for trade partners and get World Trade Organisation (WTO) talks moving again, but US and French reaction to the proposal augurs badly. Trade commissioner Peter Mandelson and agriculture commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel presented the tariff cut scheme to the so-called Five Interested Parties, an informal group including the US, EU, Brazil, India and Australia. The unofficial subgroup of the WTO is trying to lay the groundwork for an agreement at the WTO ministerial meeting in Hong Kong in December. A spokeswoman for the US Trade Representative (USTR) said the US was disappointed with the new offer because it did not go as far as it could have to cut tariffs and even went backwards in some areas. "While in some ways it is a step in the right direction and we acknowledge the EC's efforts, much more needs to be done", said USTR spokeswoman Christin Baker. France also remains sceptical about the new package, repeating claims that the European Commission is acting outside the negotiating rules agreed to by member states. "We remain doubtful that the offer is compatible with the mandate", a French diplomat told AFP, but adding that the new proposal "is worth studying carefully". France has played devil's advocate to Mr Mandelson in the run-up to December, but the British commissioner was unfazed by the remarks. "Show me a [negotiating] round, or a stage in a round, in any trade negotiation that France didn't demonstrate their sensitivities", he said. Mr Mandelson admitted the proposal came "close to the edge" of the mandate with little room left for maoeuvre at the December talks though. The mandate is based on a 2003 deal to reform the Common Agricultural Policy and a 2004 WTO framework agreement. Hungary, Poland, Spain and other member states are also uneasy that the commission is giving too much away on reducing export subsidies and tariffs without getting the same quality of concessions in return. EU ambassadors held an emergency meeting on Friday to discuss Brussels' lastest proposal, with a senior diplomat from one of the new members saying that while there is widespread support for the commission, many questions remain. "We don't see balanced progress [by trade partners] so we are against further moves by the commission", the contact indicated. He praised the new offer because it demanded movement by the US and others to reach a balanced agreement in all areas of negotiations and not just agriculture, however. The commission says its offer to open borders to foreign imports by cutting its highest tariff "peaks" by 60 percent must be matched by the US dropping export credit and food aid programs. Brussels also reitereated demands for Australia, New Zealand and Canada to "discipline" their state-run export companies, and for developed countries to increase duty and quota free access for least developed countries on the model of the EU everything but arms program. Meanwhile, Oxfam is alarmed that the EU is still wasting energy on internal warngles with only 47 days to go before the Hong Kong deadline. "It is so late in the day for the EU to try to make progress without having to worry about damaging splits", the charity's trade campaigner Celine Charveriat said. |
| Posted by:lotp |