U.S. won't be rushed in Doha
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States shares the desire of other countries for a deal in the Doha round of world trade talks, but will not be rushed into a negotiating timeline, a senior U.S. trade official said on Wednesday.
"We are not setting artificial deadlines," Deputy U.S. Trade Representative John Veroneau said at the Reuters Latin American Investment Summit. "The Doha round has been plagued by deadlines that have come and gone."
He added Washington was as interested as anyone in clinching a deal in the talks, which have been mired by divisions over agriculture trade since their launch in 2001.
Since Doha negotiations resumed earlier this year after a six-month hiatus, trade officials in Europe have stepped up calls for swift action on the round.
Supporters believe a new multilateral trade deal will boost the world economy and help poor nations combat poverty.
It is a common belief that real negotiating progress must be made in the next few months to help secure renewal for the Bush administration's trade negotiating powers, called fast track, and to ensure that Doha does not drift into irrelevance.
Yet Veroneau added he was not ready to concede Congress would not renew, as some believe, an extension for fast track, which gives the administration the power to broker trade deals voted on without changes.
The current authority expires at the end of June.
"We are talking with Congress and our view continues to be that all presidents should have trade promotion authority at all times," Veroneau said.
Many lawmakers in the Democratic-controlled Congress want to see stronger protection for workers and the environment in trade deals.
Veroneau urged trading partners to focus less on U.S. politics and trade promotion authority and more on the specifics of negotiating proposals.
"I think it's important that our trading partners focus on the substance as we try to find an agreement on the Doha round," he said.
They should trust the administration to only broker deals that would be passed by Congress.
The official also said a series of small, informal talks between U.S. negotiators and their counterparts from the European Union, Brazil and India "continues to be constructive. He declined to give further details.
