World Bank chief blames Barack Obama for Doha trade talks deadlock

Robert Zoellick speaks out amid fears the Doha round could fail, leading to a new era of protectionism The president of the World Bank, Robert Zoellick, blamed Barack Obama has for the deadlock in global trade talks and called on the White House to show the leadership that would bring almost a decade of fruitless negotiations to a successful conclusion. Amid growing concern that a complete failure in the stymied Doha round could result in a new era of protectionism, Zoellick accused the United States of peddling “excuses” when officials in Washington called the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) talks structurally flawed. Zoellick, who was the US’s chief trade negotiator under George W Bush, told reporters in Geneva: “I think the facts speak for themselves on whether you have excuses or leadership.” The Doha development round of negotiations was launched in the Qatari capital in November 2001 with the intention of spreading the benefits of free trade from rich western countries to poorer nations of Africa, the Caribbean, Latin America and Asia. But attempts to open up markets in the manufacturing, agricultural and service sectors have foundered as a result of disagreements between the round’s five big players: the United States, the European Union, India, Brazil and China. Pascal Lamy, the WTO’s director general, is resigned to the US continuing to adopt a hardline stance until after Obama has sought re-election in November 2012, but has floated the possibility of a so-called “Doha light” that would salvage some parts of the negotiations, including a package for developing countries. “The mini-deal will probably be about as hard as the big deal,” Zoellick warned at the launch of a programme in Geneva designed to disseminate data on trade. Privately, many trade negotiators agree with the assessment of the World Bank chief that it will be hard to get the US to agree even to a slimmed-down Doha round, since it would leave Washington with nothing to show for 10 years of talks. Zoellick said that rather than settle for a more modest agreement, the 150-plus WTO members should aim for more. “I urge the WTO members to get bolder: double down on Doha.” If countries were ambitious but failed, it would be easier to apportion blame, he said. The World Bank chief predicted that only a push by political leaders would end what he called a “death watch” on Doha. “The world needs a global growth strategy and opening trade drives growth,” said Zoellick. “We’ve seen it with proven effectiveness all throughout the past 60 or 70 years.” World Bank Doha trade talks Economics Global economy International trade Larry Elliott guardian.co.uk

Posted by on July 18, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.