G4 negotiations behind closed doors

IT SEEMS appropriate that the latest attempt to revive the Doha round of global trade talks is underway in Delhi. India, after all, is one of the ringleaders of the G20 group of developing nations that helped to knock them off course in the first place, at the Cancún meeting in 2003. On Wednesday April 11th India’s negotiators sat down with the other members of the so-called G4—Brazil, America, and the European Union—for a series of bilateral talks aimed at getting the troubled trade round back on track.

The prospects for a breakthrough look dim. The parties remain far apart over agricultural protection: the EU wants American subsidies slashed, while America is pushing for much steeper reductions in European tariffs. India, among others, is pushing for the right to treat a broad swathe of products, including whisky and wine, as special categories on which higher tariffs can be applied.

These are the same issues that scuppered earlier negotiations. They were supposed to be dealt with by the end of last year, leaving enough time to hammer out the final details before George Bush’s “fast track” trade-negotiating authority expires in July.

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Political pressure, at the same time, seems to be pushing Mr Bush’s government into a less trade-friendly stance. For some time the president has been resisting pressure from protectionists in his own party who want to see a more militant trade posture, particularly against China. His Treasury Department, for example, has so far refused to label China a currency manipulator even though both congressional and public sentiment currently favour doing so.

Last week, however, the Bush administration said it was slapping anti-subsidy policies on Chinese paper products, even though for two decades America has avoided placing such penalties on products from non-market economies. And on April 10th America filed two more complaints with the WTO accusing China of ignoring copyright violations against films, software and music, and restricting the import of such goods. Other actions could follow. As the political climate on trade seems to be cooling, there are few signs that Mr Bush’s negotiators are willing, or able, to make the kind of serious concessions that a deal at Doha will demand.
Economist
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