GENEVA (Reuters) - Hopes that G8 states have given stalled global free trade negotiations a shot in the arm will be put to the test at next weekend's meeting of trade powers, the U.S. chief negotiator said on Tuesday.þþUnited States Trade Representative Susan Schwab said the July 23-24 gathering of the so-called Group of Six at the World Trade Organization (WTO) would show whether the declared readiness of government leaders to be flexible had translated into new negotiating positions.þþ``We should see the impact of the G8 leaders' commitment by this weekend,'' she told journalists after the six -- the United States, the European Union, Japan, Australia, Brazil and India -- held a brief session at the WTO late on Monday.þþThey met hurriedly after the G8 -- the world's top seven industrial powers plus Russia -- gave negotiators a further month to reach a trade deal at their annual meeting held in St Peterburg, also attended by some leading developing states.þþ``The sense of resolve could translate into the breakthrough we have been looking for months,'' Schwab said.þþOn Monday the six states, which have taken the lead in the search for a deal because of the wide range of trading interests they represent, agreed to meet on successive weekends at the WTO's Geneva headquarters in an attempt to forge an accord.þþBut Schwab said the first session should show whether there was any new willingness to bridge the long-standing differences in farm and industrial goods, the core areas of the WTO's Doha trade round.þþWithout an understanding here very soon, officials say that there is no chance a full trade treaty can be achieved by the end of the year, the widely accepted deadline. þþBEHIND SCHEDULEþþThe trade round, which also includes complex issues such as services, anti-dumping rules and help for poorer states, was launched in late 2001 to boost growth and lift millions out of poverty. It is already well behind schedule.þþWTO chief Pascal Lamy, who was in St Petersburg, has been working the phones to try and fit together the so-called 'magic triangle' -- the trade-off over farm and industrial policy between rich and poor countries that could clinch a pact.þþThe United States must make deeper cuts to its farm subsidy programme, while the EU needs to lower farm tariff barriers and the richer developing countries to open up their markets for manufactured goods.þþBut the tone of recent exchanges between the United States and the EU over who must move do not augur well for a deal.þþA spokesman for EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson on Tuesday accused Washington of indulging in ``a running commentary of insults'' against Brussels and other capitals.þþHe had been asked to comment on remarks to Reuters in Washington by the lead U.S. agriculture negotiator Jason Hafemeister that the success of the round was in the hands of the EU, India and other ``protectionists'' trying to divert attention from themselves by making demands on Washington.þþIn Geneva, a senior U.S. trade official reaffirmed that Brussels faced the most ``complex'' task in putting into practice the flexibility hinted at in St Petersburg.þþOn farm tariffs, Brussels says it can come close to the 51-54 percent cut demanded by the Brazil- and India-led G20 developing country alliance.þþBut it is demanding exceptions for so-called ``sensitive products'' which its rivals fear will exclude most of the goods they are interested in selling.þþ
Source: NY Times
