U.S., European Officials Hint at Trade Concessions

DOHA, Qatar —  The World Trade Organization launched five days of high-level talks Friday by acknowledging the many conflicts dividing its members, but on the sidelines, the biggest players already were declaring their willingness to deal.

Even before the conference’s scripted opening ceremony, U.S. and European officials hinted at possible concessions on agricultural subsidies and other sensitive issues to get Third World support for a new round of talks to liberalize global trade.

The moves by no means assured that nations would be able to bridge their considerable differences on issues ranging from farm subsidies to corporate mergers. And there was no sign of progress on one particularly contentious dispute: the enforcement of pharmaceutical patents in developing countries.

But public comments by the Americans and Europeans, along with their closed-door consultations with developing-country delegations, suggested that the rough contours of a grand bargain on several big issues might be taking shape.

“We want the developing countries on board for a new trade round, so we have to offer them more than just fine speeches,” European Union Farm Commissioner Franz Fischle said. “We are ready for the deal. We are prepared to give and take.”

A senior U.S. trade official said the United States was prepared to negotiate possible concessions on the three pillars of agricultural protection: market access restrictions, export subsidies and domestic farm support not linked to exports. Trade experts say agricultural reforms would do more to improve the fortunes of poor nations than any other type of trade liberalization.

“It’s like the situation with nuclear disarmament,” said the official, who requested anonymity. “Nobody wanted to do it unilaterally. The only way to do it is in this kind of a round of negotiations.”

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Anne M. Veneman and U.S. Trade Representative Robert B. Zoellick said the United States is genuinely committed to lowering trade barriers and curtailing subsidies that contribute to overproduction, glutted markets and low prices for many food products.

“We are optimistic that a round will be launched, and that agriculture will be prominent in these negotiations,” Veneman said.

But some developing-country delegations questioned the depth of that commitment, noting that the House recently voted to provide $170 billion in additional farm subsidies over 10 years. “I think they’re deeply, deeply skeptical,” said Sophia Murphy, a trade specialist with the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, a Minneapolis-based advocacy group.

The exploration of potential compromises began several days before the official opening of the fourth ministerial conference since the birth of the WTO in 1994. The last one, held in Seattle in 1999, ended disastrously, with delegates hopelessly deadlocked on agriculture and other issues as antiglobalization forces staged rowdy street protests.

Agriculture is not the only policy area in which concessions were being test-marketed in the lead-up to the conference. The senior U.S. trade official said the United States might be willing to review its antidumping policies and devote more attention to environmental concerns to help secure agreements from Europe and Japan to pare back agricultural subsidies.

America and other affluent nations might agree to provide more assistance to help poor countries develop the internal capacity to expand trade in return for their acceptance of First World priorities, the official said.

But all sides acknowledged that no progress had been made on the drug patent impasse, which pits poor countries that want expanded authority to override patents against big countries determined to help patent-holders recover research and development expenses.

This year’s ministerial conference, scheduled to conclude Tuesday, is a more choreographed affair than in preceding years. WTO officials engaged in months of advance negotiations, whittling down the list of items to be considered and proposing compromise language for all but the drug patent dispute.

Despite the Qatari government’s desire to have no protests, globalization critics managed to carry out a surprise demonstration Friday afternoon near the entrance of the plush conference center where the WTO sessions are being held. According to Bill Jordan, general secretary of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, about 100 people took part. The demonstrators, who did not seek advance approval, covered their mouths with tape and hoisted placards reading “No Voice in the WTO.” Jordan said Qatari authorities looked on in amazement, but did nothing to stop the protest.

Inside the conference hall, the emir of Qatar, Sheik Hamad ibn Khalifa al Thani, wearing a flowing black robe trimmed in gold, welcomed the assembled delegates to his little peninsula.

The call to arms was sounded by WTO Director General Michael Moore, a New Zealander who said the successful launch of a new trade round would help restore confidence at a time of global economic distress.

“Revenues are falling, and jobs are being shed in nations of both the north and the south,” Moore said. “If we slide into a full-scale recession, all will suffer. But it is certain that the suffering will be greatest among the developing countries, especially the poorest and weakest among them, because they live on the margin.”

The goal of WTO officials, which is shared by the United States and Europe, is to get member nations to agree to a set of guidelines for broad negotiations that would take several years to complete. The last big trade deal, known as the Uruguay Round, was seven years in the making, and WTO members are still struggling to carry out some of its provisions.

The ability to conduct another round is complicated by the unwieldy nature of the WTO, which requires the consensus of all 142 members to change the rules of global trade.