NUSA DUA, Indonesia: The United States and India, whose argument over agriculture subsidies scuttled a new global trade agreement last year, held positive talks yesterday at a meeting of leading agricultural exporters in Bali. “The discussions have been very positive and centered on a shared commitment to take things forward,” new Indian Trade Minister Anand Sharma told Reuters.
A spokeswoman for US Trade Representative Ron Kirk said talks between Kirk and Sharma on the sidelines of the Cairns Group meeting were “very friendly.” She did not elaborate.
Trade ministers came close in July 2008 to a deal on the Doha round of talks, launched in the Qatari capital in late 2001 to help poor countries prosper through trade. But the talks collapsed over differences between Washington and emerging economies spearheaded by India over proposals to help farmers in poor nations cope with surges in imports.
The Obama administration is conducting a review of US trade policy, including efforts to reach a deal on Doha. Brazil’s trade ambassador to the World Trade Organization, Roberto Azevedo, told Reuters that Washington had completed the policy review and was ready to re-engage in global trade talks. Azevedo said he interpreted this to mean Washington was ready to make concessions on its agricultural subsidies, which have proved a major sticking point in the Doha trade talks.
Sharma said he and Kirk did not get down to discussing positions on the issues before them.
“I had a very good meeting with Ron Kirk. We did not discuss specifics, only the broader aim to take the process forward. We didn’t discuss positions, we discussed the principles. I can’t put a timeframe on when the Doha round will be concluded. More important is the shared expressed hope and political will.”
Lamy was due yesterday to brief the Cairns Group — 19 nations accounting for more than 25 percent of the world’s agricultural exports — about the trade talks.