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US trade representative agrees to customise WTO solutions
Washington, Sept 08: The US trade representative who will play a major role in the Cancun talks today agreed that the WTO should customise solutions to address particular problems of development, such as India`s subsistence farming.
Washington, Sept 08: The US trade representative who will play a major role in the Cancun talks today agreed that the WTO should customise solutions to address particular problems of development, such as India's subsistence farming.
"India needs to reassure its millions of subsistence farmers. Africa needs assistance to strengthen the rule of law and support small business.... We can consider longer time-frames for liberalisation and special adjustment provisions in such cases," Robert Zoellick, the US representative said.
This year, the US is devoting some 750 million USD to help developing countries build their capacity to benefit from trade. Both the World Bank and IMF have pledged help, he wrote in the wall street journal. At the same time, he added: "if attention to the special problems of some developing countries were interpreted as a general licence to avoid trade competition by some 120 self-determined developing countries, we would create a modern mercantilism that fails the cause of development.
"Strong economies and a healthy trading system depend on a broad-based willingness to import as well as export. The WTO will only be successful if developed and developing countries both assert their individual interests and accept a sense of mutual responsibility." Some developed countries, he noted, seek (tariff or subsidy) cuts for manufactured goods, but not for agriculture. Some developing countries call for the reverse. A few partners seek to add new issues to the negotiations.
Bureau Report
This year, the US is devoting some 750 million USD to help developing countries build their capacity to benefit from trade. Both the World Bank and IMF have pledged help, he wrote in the wall street journal. At the same time, he added: "if attention to the special problems of some developing countries were interpreted as a general licence to avoid trade competition by some 120 self-determined developing countries, we would create a modern mercantilism that fails the cause of development.
"Strong economies and a healthy trading system depend on a broad-based willingness to import as well as export. The WTO will only be successful if developed and developing countries both assert their individual interests and accept a sense of mutual responsibility." Some developed countries, he noted, seek (tariff or subsidy) cuts for manufactured goods, but not for agriculture. Some developing countries call for the reverse. A few partners seek to add new issues to the negotiations.
Bureau Report