World’s biggest economies vow to widen deal to expand global trade
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Trade ministers from many of the world’s biggest economies have pledged to broaden a deal to boost global trade, with the United States saying nothing is off-limits for discussion.
At a Swiss-hosted meeting on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum, ministers from China, the European Union, Japan, the US and 15 other nations agreed on Saturday to build on the “positive momentum” of a World Trade Organization summit in December in Bali where the WTO’s 159 member economies agreed to cut customs red tape.
The ministers agreed to address the most difficult remaining negotiating topics of agriculture, market access and services that eluded an agreement last month in the first WTO deal since the global trade body was formed in 1995, said Swiss Economics Minister Johann Schneider-Ammann, who hosted the meeting.
He said the world economic powers agreed to “promptly” build on the Bali agreement with “a particular focus on issues important to least developing countries.”
“In order to be able to successfully tackle these topics, fresh and credible approaches will be needed,” the minister said.
WTO Director-General Robert Azevedo said the negotiating process must be transparent and inclusive so every member can have a voice and participate, but that “the do-ability test is very important” in working toward an expanded free trade deal that balances “ambition and realism.”
The Bali deal could boost global trade by US$1 trillion over time, and its centerpiece was an agreement on measures to ease barriers to trade by simplifying customs procedures and making them more transparent.
But it also kept alive hopes of eventually accomplishing the WTO’s broader Doha Round of trade negotiations, sometimes known as the development round because of sweeping changes in regulations, taxes and subsidies that would benefit low income countries.
And the deal boosted the Geneva-based WTO’s credibility and relevance as a forum for governments to negotiate trade agreements and not just as a trade court for international disputes.
US Trade Representative Michael Froman told ministers on Saturday that “the WTO’s first order of business must be to finish what we started,” according to a statement from his office.
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